Walt Disney's Comics Digest #32 - December 1971

I moved some books today, glanced at the stack of digest comics in my hand, and froze. This particular digest touted a tour of WDW's Magic Kingdom by Disney characters. Wow! Apparently I've had this for years. Let's have a look inside, shall we?

Well, I'll look inside and tell you what I see. It'll be quicker.

We get a page of the characters to be involved in the various stories and then they break into the individual lands.

Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto eagerly visit Fantasyland. They ride the Teacups, Dumbo ride, and Peter Pan's Flight. The heights in Peter Pan scare Goofy and Pluto but Minnie explains that everything in Fantasyland is exciting but always safe. After a trip through Mister Toad's Wild Ride, they meet up with Jiminy Cricket, who 'practically runs things'. He takes them through Snow White's Adventures. Goofy and Pluto get scared by the Witch and run off, abandoning the cars and track (not recommended). Minnie's calls remind them that everything is safe and they relax. However, they're now lost in the caves. Suddenly Goofy and Pluto find themselves in a green garden... in Wonderland! Jiminy goes looking for them and finds the special tunnel the boys followed. Wonderland is mixed with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White, and Peter Pan, meaning that there's a REAL Fantasyland hidden within the rides of the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland. Goofy runs afoul of the Red Queen and is sent on a mission to collect a poisoned apple from the Wicked Witch. While he collects the recipe, Goofy gets captured. Jiminy and Pluto escape to get help. The Dwarves and Wonderland residents get dusted with fairy dust by Tinkerbell, allowing them to fly over the moat to access the Witch's castle. There the Witch is introduced to fairy dust and thinks a happy thought, allowing her to fly. Outside, the dust is washed from the Witch and she plummets to the moat, becoming occupied by swimming away from the crocodiles there. The Red Queen declares our hero Sir Goofy. Hearing Minnie's voice, the boys return to her. She's cross that they abandoned her but they really can't explain what happened to her.

Mickey and Donald head to Frontierland to meet up with the stars of the Country Bear Jamboree. Three of the bears are missing. It turns out that they are off having a picnic and don't want to come to work today. The story is a long chase scene with Mickey, Donald, and bear Henry in hot pursuit. The use the railroad, Davy Crockett canoes, and stagecoaches to chase. Eventually, Henry catches the slacker bears on Mike Fink's Keel Boat and takes them back to work.

Uncle Scrooge takes April, May, and June (Daisy's nieces, the female Huey, Louie, and Dewey) to Main Street, U.S.A. because he wants the bargain prices of 1900. The girls explain that the land may be set in the past but the prices are up to date (so true!). The great genius Professor Ludwig Von Drake has invented a Time Camera and sends the five of them back in time to the 1900s. Uncle Scrooge is in heaven sending pennies for games and sodas. He realizes the soda bottles are rare in their time, worth $10 apiece. He madly begins collecting them, buying out the soda fountain and giving away the soda so he can keep the bottles. The Professor explains that the Camera can't take the bottles back as it's not set up to do that, only items held on their person with return with them. Upset, Scrooge accidentally crashes the cart of bottles into a streetcar, breaking them all. Luckily the girls returned their bottles for the penny deposit and the old coins are worth $100 in 'the year we're going to'. Scrooge remains happy.

Mickey and his nephews, Ferdie and Morty, go to Tomorrowland where they meet up with inventor Gyro Gearloose. He has invented a motor that will turn anything into a rocketship and proves it by the Rocket to the Moon ride into a real Rocket to the moon. He also has pills of compressed air they take in order to survive the lack of oxygen. They pass a car with a trailer in the upper atmosphere and Gyro mused that this must be the individual that stole his other motor. It's Mickey villain Pete, on his way to the moon in order to paint it black, planning to extort money from the writers of love songs who will be lost without moonlight to inspire them. Mickey and the gang stop this plot and capture the bad guys, who are forced to clean up the black spot on the moon they created. At the end of the story, Ferdie and Morty wake up. They hadn't been able to sleep last night due to the excitement over going to the Magic Kingdom and the sorry has all been their dream. They ride Rocket to the Moon again so they can actually see it.

Grandma Duck takes Huey, Dewey, and Louie to Liberty Square to see the Hall of Presidents. Instead of a story with the ducks, we get a reprint of an older Gold Key biography of George Washington.

Daisy and Donald take the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland. The cruise reminds Donald of an adventure he once had with his nephews and Uncle Scrooge. He retells the story (which might be a reprint, I'm not sure) of their hunt for a white elephant. In the end, they miss out on the elephant but return with Africa Fleas and open a Flea Circus instead. Daisy has been paying attention to the ride and not Donald's story. They decide to stay on the ride as Donald missed the whole thing telling his story.

I'm So Worried...

Sometimes I think humans worry about things too much. No, scratch that, I generally think humans worry about things too much, especially things they have little control over but want to be able to control. Don't think I'm looking out at other people and shaking my finger at them because I'm just as bad at some of this than anybody else.

Humans have been worrying about the state of the environment for as long as I can remember. It seems to have been a theme during the course of my lifetime. I don't think this is a bad thing; we shouldn't abuse the Earth and what it provides to those of us upon it. At the same time, humans as a group seem to worry a lot about things outside our control as regards the planet. We want to tinker and think that we can fix problems we see.

Maybe we can and maybe we can't.

For the past few years I've been reading articles bemoaning the low water levels in Lake Michigan, how it's a horrible thing, and arguing if we (humans) should do something about it. The last time we tried it made things worse. If we do nothing and it gets worse, we've no one to blame but ourselves.

The headline on today's Journal/Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/43752092.html) happily expressed the 'comeback' of the Lake. It's recouped about two feet of water in the past sixteen months. The waterline continues to rise. What fixed this issue? All the crummy winter weather we've had over the past couple years.

Ever think that the Earth knows what it's doing more than we do? Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything, but maybe we just shouldn't worry so much. Things will work out. Or not.

Butterflies finally accept me

I was at the Milwaukee Public Museum on Saturday. Yes, that does make twice this week. The running gag amongst my family and friends is that I could go there every day and not be bored. Yes I have applied to work there.

Returning to the story I mean to tell, at the front of the first floor of the building is the special butterfly wing. You get used to things in Museums all being dead and on pins but the Butterflies here are alive in a humid, sweaty environment. This can feel nice in winter or on a cold day but is a problem when you haven't taken your jacket off as I tend to not. It gets warm fast.

These live butterflies will land on people to say 'hi'. They rarely, if ever, land on me. I've joked that I'm not sweet enough which is clearly a lie.

My buddy's kid collected them on his fingers without problem. They climbed on him without issue.

Saturday I overheated just enough to tire out. We had children with us and the extra energy I had to expend encouraged me to sit down at the soonest possibility. There was a seat cut out of a fake rock and, having checked for a lack of butterflies, carefully sat down.

My friends slowly moved closer. The butterflies swarmed around us but, as normal, they avoided contacting me. I relaxed and sat there comfortably.

Suddenly, there was a butterfly on my knee. Carefully I slid the camera from my pocket and snapped a picture. It was nice. I felt accepted. Finally.

Baseball is Baseball

Well, I managed to go to a baseball game yesterday and not sign someone's arm. More successful grilling from me and I feel rather pleased by that. A skill may be forming in that regard.

Yesterday Miller Park hosted one of the Brewers minor league teams. Minor league baseball is still pretty good baseball. Both the Brewers and their minor league affiliate Timber Rattlers won last night, which is nice.

Maybe it's because the major league team names are so familiar, so many of them have years of history behind them, but the minor league team names seem to have a little more creativity behind them. On the board we saw a team named the Silver Hawks. You could have a whole Hawks division if you wanted: silver, red, blue... yes blue. Why not? The names can be silly if we like.

There was a Dragons, a Whitecaps, a Tincaps, a Loons, all sorts of different names. Still, who who want to play as a Loon. Well, besides me.

Ponderings

While I was pondering things the other day, I felt that we may be on the edge of a new vanguard in technology. Once we pass the edge and begin the transformation, jobs will be generated in the hubbub and this transition we are in economically speaking will end. I'd no idea what that next step would be but thought that might be what's going on.

A more disturbing thought occurred today. What if the technology is already here? What if this economic situation is due to the fact that we have the tools to transform our society but we were too slow to do so and are suffering because of it?

That does sound like something we would do.

Colin Solves the Case

We were standing in front of the Chinese House exhibit on the 3rd floor of the Milwaukee Public Museum today. Eric and I were discussing something, what exactly eludes me now. Perhaps how kung fu movies from the 1970s made this type of structure look familiar to us. If not that, no doubt it was something as intellectually stimulating. Eric's young son Colin was busily investigating the Chinese Dog Statues that guard the house; there's one on each side of the doorway.

My conversation died off suddenly as I heard a rattle. Or maybe a rumble. The noise of movement certainly. I looked down at Colin and the Chinese Dog and quickly knelt to investigate.

Some months ago while looking through my archive of saved newspaper articles, I found a few regarding the Museum. One mentioned the Chinese Dogs and that there was a ball in their mouths. The Chinese would rotate them for good luck. After reading the article, I tried to find this but was unable to do so. The mouth was cemented closed. Figuring something had changed between the article's creation and my re-reading of it, I stopped worrying about it.

I was wrong. Now that I was closer to Colin's level I could see how the mouth was structured. It was open, not sealed closed, and the sculpted tongue acted as part of the overall design. There was a gap if I reached back a little, a gap that I could poke my finger into and, lo!, there was a ball that could be pushed around, back and forth. I pushed it, Colin pushed it back to me, and I rattled it back and forth with glee.

The lad is not quite two. I don't think he could grasp how sincere and heartfelt I meant my 'thank you' to him. He had unlocked a mystery for me.

Before you start giving me a hard time about an almost two year old outsmarting me, I'd helped him with the snake button associated with the Bison Hunt diorama on the 2nd Floor about a half-hour before. Clearly he was just thanking me by trading information.

This is a good kid.

And Finally, Dinner

Once in the Chinese restaurant, Harold tries to reclaim his cool, even after Albert declares his lack of trust in the Chinese, feeling they are trying to steal his new gloves. Harold declares they're good people and briefly shuts Albert up by reminding his dad how he enjoys Charlie Chan movies. The menu gives Albert a new reason to complain. The names of the dishes all sound nasty to him and he's upset when he can't get his normal greasy spoon English food. Harold takes care of the food order, noting he'll like it once he sees it and realizes what's in it. Harold also takes care of ordering the drinks. Seeing another customer checking his bill, Albert goes to help him, loudly noting that the Chinese would likely cheat him given the chance. The gentleman tries to listen patiently to Albert as he natters on but almost loses his cool as he leaves with his party. Albert doesn't notice that he's been obnoxious, thinking he's made a new friend. Harold, now steaming, begins to disabuse him of this notion but the food arrives before he can get too far. Harold makes a big deal of sniffing the wine and sampling it before he approves of it but, once Albert gets a glassful, he quickly drains it. To make things that much more exotic, Albert ordered chopsticks as utensils. He tries to show his father how to use them but he needs some fingers to get the food to his mouth. Albert can't get them to work properly. Once he does manage to get food to his mouth, he immediately spits it out, claiming it's horrible. This is the final straw for Harold. He quietly explodes at his father, trying not to make a further scene, pays for the food and leaves.

In order to show his respect for his new hat, Fred gets an extra chair at the table to set it on and a napkin to protect it. Fred's concern for the restaurant isn't a shifty, can't trust Fu Manchu sort of thing like Albert, but he repeats the urban legend that you can't trust the origins of the meat in a Chinese restaurant. Lamont tells him not to worry and, like Harold, orders the food, noting his father will like it when he sees it. Fred's attempt to order soul food gets nowhere. Like Albert, Fred annoys a nearby customer, not grasping his conversation is unwelcome. Lamont's expressions of annoyance are cut off by the arrival of the food. Fred thinks the food smells like bug spray, accusing the cooks of spraying the food so it won't move after leaving the kitchen. That's the last straw for Lamont. He explodes, pays for the food and leaves.

Most of the reduction in the scene from Steptoe to Sanford is in the son's actions. Harold is continuing to try and act above his class, which Lamont has not been bothering to attempt. Lamont is just at these places because he enjoys them and is either accepted or doesn't care what other people think about him being there. Harold is looking for acceptance. He worked to fit in at the cocktail lounge and at the theatre. Here it's primarily with the selection of the wine. He puts on airs, working to sound like he knows what he's talking about, and showing off once it arrives. These are all believable actions for the character based on his previous activities. He's either working to elevate his class status or destroy the class structure.

Fred gets to do a piece of shtick getting a chair for his new hat. This connects nicely with his attempt to go home and let Lamont enjoy himself on his own. Not only is it silly, but it acts as an apology, saying that he's still pleased about this present and seeking to treat it with the respect it deserves.

The end of the night is very different for both. By the time Fred gets outside, Lamont is gone. It starts to rain, he gets flustered, removes the hat and protects it under his suitcoat. Despite their argument and harsh words, there's still a respect there, and we can see it reestablished the next morning during the coda sequence that I mentioned earlier. Fred and Lamont fight but during the fights we've seen enough evidence that they care for each other so that it blowing over by morning makes sense.

Once Albert gets outside, he bumps into Harold. Albert watches sadly as Harold stomps away. Before turning the corner and disappearing, he pauses to loudly remind his father to look after his new gloves. Albert wanders alone to the tube station. He takes his gloves off in order to retrieve money from his pants pockets, tucks his gloves under his arm, and promptly drops them without noticing.

No happy ending here. Despite the way this looks, has Albert subconsciously intentionally dropped the gloves? Possibly. The way the scene plays out, it seems odd that he wouldn't notice them being gone. He may even go back and collect them once the show we see ends. Here it acts as a symbol for the down note in their relationship. While we see Lamont and Fred happy the next day, losing the gloves will just give Harold and Albert more reasons to yell at each other.

The failure is with the sons. Instead of taking their fathers out for a good time that the fathers will like, they try to use the evening to educate their fathers. When these plans fail, they blame the attitude of the father moreso than themselves.


This became longer than expected. More than normal I'd appreciate some feedback on this to see if it was interesting or if I just rabbited on at length about TV. If this was interesting, or was close to it if I'd done this or that differently, I do have further episodes I can compare and contrast. Thanks.

To the Show

Next in the evening's proceedings is the show. There are some interesting if more subtle variations here.

The Steptoes attend a performance of 'Richard III' at the Old Vic. As in the lounge, Harold tries to elevate his social status by loudly asking questions of his father, trying to sound literate to the other people in attendance. Albert doesn't understand the Shakespearian era language and doesn't believe a king would act the way the actor is portraying him. Harold energetically explains this is an historical piece. He accuses Albert of knowing nothing of his own country's history, being more familiar with the American Old West from movies and TV. A bell sounds to announce the start of the second act. Once Albert finds out there's another two hours of play to go, he refuses to return to the theatre. Harold doesn't argue with him because he's seen it already. They'll just head for dinner.

Lamont has taken his father to see the film version of 'Fiddler on the Roof'. Fred's not enjoying himself because he doesn't understand it, although he might if he were Jewish. Lamont accuses him of not having it in him to understand, that he doesn't try to like anything deeper than a TV show. When the buzzer announces the second half of the film, Fred announces he's not going back in, Lamont can finish up the movie, Fred's happy with the nice evening they've had so far, but Fred will catch the bus and meet him at home. Lamont declares he promised him dinner and to dinner they will go.

Both sons take their father to something they hope will elevate the mind a bit, show them the finer things that art can offer. Neither father is interested. While Harold attempts to do some social climbing, Lamont is only concerned with his father's reaction. Lamont's not interesting in getting on the good side of other people here, just his father. Both sons feel that TV westerns are their father's main entertainment. Interestingly, they don't reference the same one: Harold declares Albert a fan of 'Bonanza' whereas Fred watches 'Gunsmoke'.

The most important variation comes with the exit. Harold is tired of arguing. He's seen the play before so he can live with missing the rest. Annoyed he drags his father off to dinner.

Unlike Albert, Fred offers to go home at this point. He doesn't want to spoil Lamont's night out. While both fathers expressed that they wouldn't enjoy the evening if it was too posh, Fred is the only one of the two to try and gracefully leave, thanking his son and wanting the son to enjoy himself. Lamont doesn't indicate he's already seen the film, it's implied he hasn't already, but by this point he's so upset with his father that he's taking his father to dinner because that's what he's promised to do.

While both are funny, I think the Sanford scene accomplishes more. Fred offering to go home is an interesting 'I want my son to be happy' piece that the Steptoe episode doesn't offer. Due to the variation in length for the restaurant scene between the episodes, it's important for Lamont to be angry now. He doesn't have time to slowly boil over in the next scene like Harold does.

Just a Nice Drink

Both sets of fathers and sons next head to the cocktail lounge. Both fathers are keen for beer and are dismayed when they find out there's no beer on tap. Bottled beer is available but they can't drink that as it gives them gas. Both fathers find the prices way too expensive and suggest alternatives. Both are dismayed that there are no games to play. Nothing the son can do will calm the father and they quickly leave to go to the show.

Both of these sequences start the process of the father getting on the son's nerves. In both cases, the son wants to do something nice, to do something fancy for a change but the father is uncomfortable is such a nice place and would just as soon be somewhere more relaxed. Both of these sequences amuse me for different reasons.

Albert grouses about the lack of draft beer. Their local pub, the Skinners Arms, has draft beer so why doesn't this place? The bartender suggests a drink for Albert and Harold agrees to it. From the 'deer in the headlights' look Harold gives the bartender, it appears that he doesn't know what is in the drink. For himself, Harold orders a specifically made vodka martini. Albert knows why. He's trying to look cool as it's the drink 'James Bond orders in that Doctor No film'. Harold insists it's his normal drink, but Albert disagrees, knowing what he orders at the Skinners Arms. There's no dart board here, the drinks are too expensive, and Albert's drink looks like a fruit salad. When Harold sees a young lady at the end of the bar needing a light for her cigarette, he hurries to help her. Upon noticing he's gone, Albert yells for his son to return. Uncomfortable, they leave. Harold pauses to look back on the young lady, but she's already happily talking to someone else.

The comedy here is on the shoulders of both characters. Harold is desperately trying to look cool and being let down by his father. Albert is uncomfortable and willing to share that with others. Nothing goes like it should.

In the American version, Lamont is just trying to have a good time which his father spoils. While Lamont has things to do, Fred leads the comedy here.

First Fred doesn't want to take his hat off, not quite grasping it's impolite. Finding a drinks menu on the bar, he first tries to order a Shirley Temple. Lamont stops him from doing so and the conversation about beer begins, Fred adding a request for canned beer as that doesn't make him burp and he doesn't want to burp. The bartender steps away, allowing Lamont to express his annoyance. Fred tried to order the Shirley Temple because it was the cheapest thing on the menu. Lamont's reassurance that he's got the money does nothing to slow Fred who suggests they head to a supermarket, get a six pack, and drink it in the parking lot. He's also annoyed that there's no pinball machine. The bartender returns with the suggestion of an old-fashioned but, not realizing it's a drink, Fred takes it as an insult. Lamont orders it for him and a vodka martini for himself. Fred is shocked by the price of the drinks. He sips his drink and reacts poorly, comparing it to drinking maple syrup. As Fred won't settle down, they leave, but on their way out, Fred yells for them to get a pinball machine.

I'm not sure why Fred and Lamont don't have a local bar of their own to reference. Later in the series, they will have specific establishments they frequent. Perhaps I consider the idea of a 'local' more natural as I'm from Wisconsin where such things are more commonplace? The idea of drinking a six pack in a supermarket parking lot seems so much sillier to me that it works for me. It just seems so wrong.

Fred is also much louder than Albert. Albert raises his voice but not to the degree Fred does. Fred clearly does not care who hears him. The most notable difference being in the search for games. Albert asks Harold where the dartboard is and grumbles when there isn't one. Fred loudly asks for the location of the pinball machine and his declaration to get one as they leave is not subtle. Fred's negative reaction to his drink is also meant for sharing. He keeps nothing to himself while they are in the lounge, slowly embarrassing Lamont more and more until they leave. This is Redd Foxx's moment to take charge and he does.

The Importance of Looking

I hesitate to generalize American TV as 'simple' or 'dumbed down' compared to British offerings, especially as both cultures have generated items that can be classified as 'simple' and 'clever'. For every game show masquerading as a reality programme, there's a witty comedy that survives the test of time. With that said, there's a subtle sequence in the British version that plays out on a more basic level in the American version. Due to the timing of the appearance of the American version, being only the second episode in the series, it has to play out on a more basic level because the characters have yet to be defined in the audience's mind. As this has been accomplished in 'Steptoe', they can proceed in a different manner. Both mean to achieve the same goal at the end.

In the American version, Fred announces he's going to bed. Lamont stops him in order to give him his present; the teasing that the birthday has been forgotten is over. In a good-natured way Fred chides him for messing with him and together they relish the gag. Lamont watches as Fred opens the present, a stylish gray hat. Fred is happy to get it and Lamont is clearly pleased he's chosen correctly, enthusiastically dragging his father to a nearby mirror to try it on. It's a boy seeking to please his father and succeeding. Any conflict here is due to Fred's smart mouth but he's clearly joking and Lamont can take it as such.

In the British version, Albert announces he's going to bed. Harold stops him, holds out the present, and says 'Happy Birthday.' Albert snatches it, snapping verbally with frustration. Harold laughs, enjoying every moment, noting how he couldn't wait to see his face. Albert does not join in with the merriment. This is big change number one: since Lamont didn't give his father a hard time for a long time, Fred could bounce back quickly to appreciate the humor in the situation. Harold wound his father up too far and it's not funny to Albert. Since the British audience expects this sort of thing from the pair, it's still funny to them.

Harold is keen for his father to open the present, encouraging him to do so, but then turns away. He was keen to see his father's expression after his joke was revealed but then doesn't watch his expression upon opening the present. This would appear to be a 'guy thing' moment. It's one thing to watch your buddy as a joke is played on him, but a moment of real emotion is awkward and not for sharing. The opening of the card that occurs after the present is dealt with also supports this theory.

Harold's turning away allows for a subtle moment. Upon opening the present and finding a pair of nice gloves inside, Albert is clearly pleased, for all of a second. He quickly puts the mask on and expresses indifference to the gloves. Why? This is his chance to get Harold back. Had Harold been watching him, this wouldn't have been possible as he would have seen the glee. Harold becomes defensive of his present, pointing out the quality and helping his father try them on. Albert doesn't give his son the hard time he received. He soon agrees that the gloves are nice and need to be kept for best, just as Fred and Lamont agree that the hat should be treated.

Both sons have also gotten their father a card with a 'mushy' poem inside. Both fathers are keen to receive the card, happier about the card than the present, not that they don't like the present but the card would have been enough. Both decide to read the card aloud.

This is where Albert does the 'glasses' gag that Fred does during the phone call to Social Security. Interestingly enough, the glasses seem to help Fred whereas Albert reads the card more clearly once he's taken the glasses back off. As Albert reads the card, Harold turns away embarrassed. Albert is touched by the sentiment expressed, and Harold tries to play it off as a bit corny but true. Albert goes to put it with all the other cards Harold's given him over the years, and the cards he and his late wife exchanged, and Harold's school reports as well as his letters to Father Christmas. While this goes to support Albert's character as a pack rat, he often wants to keep the junk they bring in rather than sell it, it's also a moment that supports the relationship he has with his son. They may argue, they may give each other a difficult time, but, at the centre of it is love. By the end of his sequence, seeing Harold wanting his father to enjoy his gift and Albert near tears at the card, the audience is reassured that they care for each other.

On the other hand, Fred doesn't repeat the 'glasses' gag, but calls back to it by retrieving a pair from his sweater in order to read the card aloud. Lamont is uncomfortable and continues to interrupt his father's attempts to read it. While the emotion is still manifest, it occurs like shtick, like a Abbott and Costello or Hope and Crosby routine. Lamont also doesn't watch his father read the card, only looking at him when Fred turns halfway through to smile at him. Lamont also tries to play off Fred's positive reaction to the card by noting it was 'corny' but this offends Fred. This is where they do most of their arguing, not over the pretend forgetting, not over the pretending to not like the present, but over the emotion in the card. To Fred, Lamont calling it 'corny' and 'mushy' means he doesn't agree with all those nice words. Once Lamont has become defensive enough about it, Fred defuses the situation by noting his new hat is the best he's ever owned. Lamont can then relax and move on. As in the British version, it's clear they care about each other. Lamont wants his father to enjoy the present, Fred enjoys the present. Even though they argue, there are signs that they want each other to be happy.

In both versions, the son now announces to the father that this is only part of the present, that there is also a night on the town planned. It is important that both versions have established that Father and Son can get along and do love one another because it's all down hill from here.

'Happy Birthday Pop' based on 'Sixty-Five Today'

Shared Plot

It is Father's sixty-fifth birthday. Son returns home from work with packages and pretends to have forgotten Father's birthday. After Father turns sadly to go to bed, Son hands over his present, a stylish clothing accessory that both Father and Son agrees should be worn for best. The present is not complete as Son has an evening on the town planned as well: drinks, a show, and dinner. Father doesn't enjoy the fancy drinks and finds them too expensive. The show is too upscale and long for Father's taste. Dinner at the Chinese restaurant doesn't go well either, with Father not liking the food. Son becomes upset that all his hard work is unappreciated and leaves.

Variations

From a pacing perspective, the episodes are very similar. Not requiring a commercial break, the Steptoe episode runs to about 31 minutes with the credits as they are part of the story, not repeating the same sequence every week. The Sanford episode is just short of 26 minutes with the credits included but those credits are not part of the story, they are the same piece of film every week. The Sanford episode also has a coda, a brief piece of non-essential story that was generally removed in syndication. If we take the timing from where the story ends, the length is 23 minutes and 15 seconds long, almost 8 minutes shorter than the British version.

The opening sequence where the Father's birthday is discussed and the evening out set up takes up about half of the episode for each version. The sequences in the bar and theatre run to similar lengths for both. The greatest variation is in the restaurant sequence which is about 4 minutes shorter in the American version.

While the general pacing is the same, the specific pacing is different and that's where the two approaches become unique. The Steptoe episode is from the second series. The characters of Father Albert and Son Harold are already established to the viewing audience. They have expectations. This is the second episode of 'Sanford and Son' so the characters of Father Fred and Son Lamont are still being established. The sequence of Harold pretending to have forgotten his Father's birthday is much longer than in the American version. Since the audience is already familiar with their relationship, this sort of thing would seem natural. If Lamont were to treat Fred in this way, this early in the history of the show the audience might turn on him as cruel.

Both Albert and Fred do the 'glasses' gag, digging through a drawer full of spectacles for the pair that will assist him with this specific task, but for different reasons. Albert uses the glasses in order to read the card Harold gives him. Fred uses them to read the phone book and dial the phone to talk to Social Security. In the American version, this conversation soaks up most of the time spent in the British version with Harold 'forgetting' the birthday. It's also mirrored in the coda sequence. Fred decides he's going to retire on the money Social Security will pay him. Lamont explains he won't get the maximum payout as he hasn't earned enough money to qualify. Fred calls to check. In both conversations with Social Security Fred asks a question. Both are answered to his satisfaction, responding to their explanation with multiple 'uh-huh' until he hangs up. This plays out better than it reads.

Where Steptoe Meets Sanford

A good idea is a good idea, no matter where it comes from originally. A successful idea opens itself up for copying, remaking, redoing. If it worked once, it should work again.

Nowhere is this as obvious as in television. Popular shows go from one country to the next, occasionally to be rebroadcast, but just as often to be remade, to have culturally specific references removed to better position the programme for success in its new home.

Many of the popular comedy shows of 1970's American television have their roots in England. After the success of translating 'Til Death Us Do Part' into 'All in the Family', other shows followed. 'Man About the House' became 'Three's Company'. 'Fawlty Towers' became 'Amanda's'. Okay, so maybe all the remakes weren't popular.

In 1972, the British show 'Steptoe and Son' came to America to become 'Sanford and Son'. Of the fourteen episodes that make up the first season of 'Sanford and Son', twelve of them are identified as rewritten 'Steptoe and Son' episodes. While not the only episodes so translated, it's interesting to see so many episodes from the original were used in this way.

I have all of 'Sanford and Son' on DVD and have about half of 'Steptoe and Son' on DVD. I enjoy both programmes for what they are but never really watch them at the same time. The urge to watch old British sitcoms generally fits a different mood than the urge that craves Redd Foxx's brand of silliness.

Last week, watching 'Steptoe and Son' while I dozed off, it occurred to me that I couldn't really remember anyone comparing and contrasting the original and the American versions. It's not that one is better than the other, just to see how things get changed, to take a look at the structure of the writing and performances to see how they differ. There may be a very good reason to not do this, one that I will learn while giving it a try.

In this regard, I'm hoping failure will be as entertaining as success. We shall see.

To Success!

All I know is that the last three Brewer home games equate to the last three Brewer home wins, going back to last year's playoff game. If the Brewers care to employ me as a lucky charm, I am not that hard to contact.

In progress gets you this

Spent a good chunk of today working on the project I talked about last week. Research and such. Fun! I don't want to rush it so I'm not going to crank it out for today. As a taste or tease or whatever you want to call it, I'm posting the above picture which won't mean much of anything to a lot of people.

Ads still don't stick

I spent most of today playing catch-up from being ill. I did some cleaning, mostly the putting away of Things that had been staged rather than put away straight away. The advantage to doing this time of chore is that it allowed me to look for the camcorder battery for which I'm looking. No, I've not yet found it and that is still driving me up the wall.

I also worked on cleaning up one of my primary email inboxes. I took a number of surveys today. It makes me feel useful and that's sometimes handy during this period of time. What I learned from today's surveys is something I've longer suspected: most current advertising doesn't stick in my head. Plenty of older jingles are still in my head, popping out when I least suspect it. Today, under 'pressure', I could recognize commercials, even ones I found stupid and unentertaining, but had no memory of the brand that the ad was representing. That's a waste of ad dollars.

Maybe it's age. I probably see more commercials than most of my friends as I tend to watch more live tv than the rest, even now that I have DVR access, and these jingles don't linger. Maybe my brain is full of jingles and doesn't have room for any others. Maybe.

I'm still inclined to think that the commercial is dead.

Annoying

The worst thing about leaving an item out where you should be able to find it is that you can't leave everything out like that. There isn't the room. In an attempt to reflect that reality, items get assigned places, locations where they are supposed to reside when not in use.

I had a location where the spare battery to my camcorder was located. It's not there. I believe I moved the location to reflect the cleaning I've been doing on and off over the past few months. I don't know where it is now. I've been looking for the battery during this past week. I started hunting for it a bit more seriously today. I haven't found it yet and it's driving me nuts.

It's here somewhere. It had better be.

I am Mike Myers

We stood in line for a Very Important Reason. The wind whipped at us, increasing the priority of the Reason we were in line. This I did not enjoy. The line was not impossibly long but it was longer than I cared to see at the moment.

Bob's friend Ed spoke, pulling me from my inner musings. "It's taken me five beers but I figured out who you remind me of." A moment later, he'd lost it again, his brain hiding the name he required, but it was a movie star, someone well known, on the tip of his brain. He began an impersonation of a character the gentleman played, hoping that would trigger someone's memory, if not his own.

"Mike Myers?" I guessed. I was correct.

"I don't see it," commented the young lady in line behind Bob. She was young but not that young. Maybe young in the way that I could be considered young. Pleasant looking either way. I busted out a brief and rusty Dr. Evil impression. Both she and her friend laughed. "That's it! It's him!" A calculated rummaging began. "Hang on," the young lady stated, "we're looking for a pen. I want your autograph."

I became confused. While I knew beer was involved, I was clearly not Mike Myers, in any way. That said, I've nothing against a bit of fun.

I pulled aside my jacket in order to access the pockets of the flannel shirt that lay beneath. From that pocket, I produced a pen. "Look, he's got an autograph pen all ready!" she laughed. She pulled up a shirt sleeve and offered me the underside of her arm to sign.

I hesitated. Bob laughed. "You gonna sign it Mike Myers or Steve?"

Eh, what the heck. I signed her arm 'Mike Myers', almost horribly misspelling 'Myers'. I blame the medium. I'm not used to writing on other people's arms. As that was being accomplished, their camera was located, and Bob was asked to take a picture of them with me. I was a little impressed with how casually I draped my arms around their shoulders. I'm normally a little less casual around total strangers but, again, beer was involved.

I was thanked and they resumed their place in line behind us. The line had not moved much. "Great, now I've used up my best material and we're only here." That got a chuckle as well. At least I hadn't thought about the Reason for being in line for a minute.

It's my first time, please be gentle

I'm going to Opening Day today. Well, technically it's just the Brewers home opener as Opening Day for the season was Tuesday, but everyone here will be calling it Opening Day. In Milwaukee, this is a holiday, like a sequel to St. Patrick's Day. The fact that this year it falls on Good Friday, an actual holiday to some, will likely be lost on the bulk of the crowd.

This will be my first such event. I'm excited. Mostly I'm excited because it's baseball, we get to grill, and I know it'll be fun, win or lose. Part of me is excited in a 'how will this be different?' sorts of ways, 'will I get a good story out of this?' ways.

I'm planning to bring a notebook, just in case sometime different does happen so I can help myself remember it amongst the everything else. I shall also be dressing warmly. It's April in Wisconsin. Yesterday was nice. Today the wind shifted and it's in the upper 40s. It should still be warmer than my last tailgating experience at the Packers game. Oddly enough we played a Chicago team then as well. Packers played the Bears then and today the Brewers are up against the Cubs. Hmm, odd that.

This will be fun!

A Few Thoughts on Comics from this (?) week

Having missed getting my books last week due to my illness and then not getting my entire two week stack, I've no clue what came out when and that's likely to continue for another week or so. We'll talk about what I read and worry about the details of release, well, never I guess.

Amazing Spider-Man #590 starts dealing with a question some fans asked after the 'event' that, amongst other things, returned Spider-Man's secret identity to being a secret: won't some of his old pals notice that they've forgotten something? Spidey and the Fantastic Four meet up to follow up on a previous adventure to another dimension. Once they meet, it's clear to the FF that they knew who Spidey was but can't remember. This bothers Johnny Storm more than the rest and he becomes obsessed with remembering. The story flashes back to the previous adventure, mostly because it was never told before this story, so we can reference the change between before and after the 'event'. One of the main variations is that Spidey spends most of the previous adventure walking around with his mask off.

Huh? Really? Even in another dimension? That doesn't sound like the uptight Parker I know.

It may be my memory failing me but I don't remember that the FF knew Spider-Man was Peter Parker. I seem to remember Reed going 'of course I knew, I am so s-m-r-t' at one point, but that feels like a reasonably recent occurrence. Even with Pete's trust of the FF, I remember him being masked when going to Reed for help with the alien suit that would become Venom. Maybe I'm misremembering.

For sake of argument, let's say I'm misremembering and the FF have known about this for ages. It still seems weird to see Pete walking around in his Spidey suit but with the mask off. That's different. One of the plot points upon their return to the other dimension is that the grateful people they helped made statues of their heroes and, oh look, the Spidey one is unmasked but eroded so you can't make out the features. It feels like they did this just to give Johnny Storm another reason to freak-out about being unable to remember the secret identity.

From a reader's perspective, Pete's reluctance to let the FF in on his secret is a bit odd as he unmasked for the Avengers two weeks ago. He trusts them but not the FF? Really?

Now, the story is to be continued so it may make sense in the end. Maybe he admits he's being silly to friends he trusts and all is well in the end. Perhaps this story takes place before the one in New Avengers #51 and is the motivation behind him deciding to trust the Avengers with his secret as well.

At this moment it just doesn't read very well.

I'll be willing to take that back if #591 explains all but right now it feels like an awkward, rare 'swing and a miss' from writer Dan Slott.

Temptation

It's part of human nature to want what we can't have. That which is forbidden, for any reason, holds more interest than what is available. It may not be that we have no interest in the available, the available may also draw us in, but that what we can't have is that much more interesting.

This makes a lot of sense, perhaps moreso depending on your beliefs regarding the origin of man. Most of the creation stories have a 'fall from grace' moment associated with them. Pandora's curiosity regarding the closed box (what couldn't she have that was inside?) caused her to open the box, loosing evils upon the world. Eve is tempted to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, not just because it's forbidden, but because she's told something's being kept from her, something that she'll receive once she eats of the fruit.

Perhaps it's a secret. One of your co-workers has something hidden. It's probably nothing of import but does the knowledge that there's something being kept from you gnaw at you? Distract you? Cause you to snoop where you otherwise may not snoop? Do a little detective work until that part of your brain can be satisfied?

Perhaps it's media of some kind: a movie that remains unreleased, an album that is long out of print and unavailable, or something never made available commercially. Do you hunt the internet for a copy?

Perhaps it's a tidbit from a production yet to be released. You're a fan of a TV show and the new season is approaching. Can you prevent yourself from reading the spoilers that leak online? Do you want to know that detail that you know your friends won't so you can be that ahead of them? Worse yet, a workprint of the first episode escapes to the online community. Can you not watch it?

I've got no smooth answer to this point as I'm horrible at this sort of thing. In fact, I've done most of the above, and recently as well! I'm a bad man...

This is driving me nuts now

I read today that the 'magnifier' prop from 'Adventures in Inner-Space' from Disneyland puts in an appearance in the 'Star Tours' ride. This was meant as a cute nod to the fact that 'Star Tours' would be taking over the building that housed 'Inner-Space'. The information regarding it's location in the ride movie appears to be a little incomplete. So, I ask, is the structure in the lower right corner meant to be the prop?

All rights to the picture above are no doubt owned by Disney and/or Lucasfilm and in no way am I trying to pretend otherwise. Just looking for some help with this 'math'.

'The Ten Doctors' webcomic

I don't normally point out links as I add them to the sidebar but felt a need to do so this time. No offense to everyone else I've added and NOT mentioned. It's not like that, really. Oh fine, come back when you're done pouting.

I added a link to 'The Ten Doctors' webcomic today. In theory the story is nearly done so, if you haven't read it yet, you should be able to get through the bulk of it and not have to wait around for the wrap-up too long. It is over 200 pages so it might take you a little reading.

Why have I added it and why talk about adding it?

It's a Doctor Who fan fiction. I'm familiar with those from all aspects. It's rare to have a story go on for this long, with this many characters, and yet remain so good. It's funny. It's scary. It has cliffhangers. It's just good reading.

It's not perfect. Some of the companions are a little hard to distinguish from one another, which I think is often due to the author's art style. Typos sneak in from time to time. Occasionally the action in a panel is difficult to decipher. On the whole, these are quibbles. They are occasional. They do not damage the overall enjoyment of the piece.

The overall enjoyment of the piece is the grand joining of old and new Who. Together again for the first time, everybody and then some join together to fight a ripple in Time that's monkeying with the events of the Time War. If you've been a long-time fan (such as myself), there's a lot of references to make you giggle. Today's strip had one such reference, with a piece of machinery not seen since 'The Chase'. For the newer Who fans, don't worry, all gets explained. References are noted in the text summary or the comments, so you'll be filled into what's going on if it isn't clear.

If I could draw, I wish this is a story I was doing. That's the main reason I'm linking to it. I've written and read a sizable amount of fan fiction and most of it belongs as fan fiction. Sometimes they have good ideas but poor execution of them. Sometimes it's a good story idea told well, but not developed as well as it could be. Sometimes they go in directions you don't enjoy. Sometimes they're just not very good, more enthusiasm than anything else. Occasionally you get a story that steps beyond it's boundaries a bit and is just good. This is one such story.

Am Feeling Better

Got some typing done yesterday and a bit today. Starting getting ideas and had to scribble a storyline into my notebook. Things are getting back to normal.

Had an idea for something for here, something I've considered a good idea before and just hadn't figured out how to accomplish until nowish. It involves some research and is something I don't think has been done before. I may find out there's a good reason why it's not been done before.

We shall see.

All I'm saying is that I'm getting somewhere again. About time too.

If I posted this already I apologize

Cantiflas was not pleased. “What is wrong with you?” Did it not occur to you what might happen?”

This delivery brought a hurried reaction from Doctor Davis, working to quiet the aggravated owner. “Hey, hey now. Can we have that a wee bit quieter now? This is a hospital you know.” As soon as I realized our Doctor was Scottish, I decided he was awesome. Luckily he’d done nothing since then to disrupt that declaration.

Cantiflas visibly attempts to calm himself. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry. My frustration got the better of me.”

“No problems there. Better out than in, right? Tell you what, I can discharge these two fellows and you can take them outside to yell at them all you want.” Doctor Davis paused after this statement, considering it as he looked upward. “Well obviously not right outside. You know, get a bit away from the hospital and then yell at them. Okay?”

Cantiflas nodded but encouraged him to stay a moment yet. “I know of the condition of my wrestlers bar Robbie V. Do you have any word on his status?”

Doctor Davis’ brow furrowed as he flipped through the papers on his clipboard. “Robbie V, Robbie V,” he muttered. “Ah, Robert Snakowski! I believe he’s in surgery at the moment; broke his leg you see. Not sure on the severity of the injury but if he’s in surgery it must be awkward.”

This information did not please Cantiflas. “Thank you Doctor. I’ll check in on him again later. I can verify the insurance information is accurate at that time as well.”

“Glad to be of help. Now remember, no yelling at those two until you’re well away. Have a good rest of the night.” His eye caught the clock, causing him to append his statement. “Well, good morning anyway.”

The sad ‘little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar’ expression remained on the Smasher’s face until the door clicked closed behind the medical man. “Yeah, quit with the yelling Cantiflas,” he teased.

Cantiflas looked concerned. “Was it too much?” he questioned.

“I thought it was just right,” El Hombre noted from his prone position on the bed. “That said, the gentleman was probably correct in noting that you were a little loud.”

“Nevermind that now,” Cantiflas has his question answered and realigned his thoughts, “I heard you jumped from the balcony of the bar.”

I nod. “I saw him do it.”

“You’re the one I heard it from,” Cantiflas commented. “I was looking to hear this from the ‘horse’s mouth’ as it were.”

El Hombre sat up slowly, favoring the soreness of his lower personage. “I did indeed do a plancha from the balcony of ‘Breakers down to the battle on the floor.”

This excited Cantiflas. “Madness! I wonder if anyone recorded the action with their phone. I’ll have to get Young Miguel to make a search for the website. If footage exists, we must have a copy of it or, at the very least, a link to it.”

“I didn’t do it with an audience in mind,” El Hombre noted. “I did it because I felt it was the best way to end the battle.”

Smasher interjected. “I’m just glad you didn’t land on me; my neck is bad enough.”

Cantiflas politely ignored this comment to continue the conversation. “I know you didn’t do it with an audience in mind but we need the positive attention from our fanbase. We are under attack. We need them to see the lengths we will go to in order to protect our turf. We need them to see that we will do what it takes to fight back!”

“I hope you are not hoping they will think that they will see further daredevil jumps on my part.” Carefully El Hombre stood up. “I think I’m done with those for the time being.” Slowly, tenderly, he started walking. He grunted and fussed as he moved. “I need some whiskey.” I waved his prescription at him and reminded him of its existence. He waved back at it. “Pills make me nervous; the chance of getting addicted is so high.”

This drew a chuckle from Smasher. “And you’re not addicted to alcohol?”

As he neared the door, El Hombre’s gait continued to loosen up and relax. “I understand the side effects of alcohol upon me and its cheaper than pills. Now, let’s stop worrying about my medication habits and just get me to it.”

Smasher stood up to follow. “Seems ta me that’s what we were working on when this mess started.”

This may be cheating but it's also a test

Most online quizzes are a bit silly really. The title is 'which so and so are you?', the questions and responses are pretty clear that if I pick response A, I'm leaning towards Character A, and the results are no surprise. I took a 'Which Doctor Who are you?' today and the questions and responses were nicely mixed, perhaps because there were ten Doctors to pick from, they had to work harder. I actually had no clue Who I was getting and was quite pleased to see my result.

Your Result: 2nd Doctor

"Oh my giddy aunt!" You are fun-loving, and excitable but that doesn't hinder your ability to plan ahead. Although when things get tough you may have trouble at first, you'll always find a way through. You may overact to entertain or take cover, but you're a solid person underneath, something only true friends understand.

Ugh

Yesterday my left ear felt a little clogged, closed, or stuffed up. Eventually it relaxed.

Now it's my right ear's turn. It feels like there's a crayon loose in my head and someone's slowly pushing it out my right ear. My hearing is a little wonky as a result.

It's very distracting.

Beyond that I'm feeling better. Hopefully my ear will relax tonight and I'll feel active enough to do something, anything, tomorrow.

That would be nice.

Grumble

I am sick and because of that illness I am missing this year's 'behind the scenes' night at the Milwaukee Public Museum. I'm hating that. I've only been to the 'behind the scenes' night once and was looking forward to going back and taking some pictures.

Last night I took a big, slightly more than recommended dose of Nyquil with the idea that it would knock me out for the night. That's the sort of thing that the commercials suggest will happen anyway. That did not happen for me. I slept for a couple hours, was far too awake for a period of time, and napped fitfully for the rest of the evening. I woke up tired. My throat felt less rough but I'm not sure if the Nyquil or the vaporub did that. I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon away.

I've never been much for cough syrup upon becoming an adult. The primary ingredient in most cough syrup (the Nyquil included as I looked) is alcohol. Why not just drink brandy or whiskey? Bound to accomplish the same things by in large. Get some blackberry brandy, that'll coat your throat and off you go.

Don't mind me. I'm just tired and bitter for missing my photo-op with a polar bear.

Radio on the TV

Thought I blogged yesterday. Woke up this morning, had a look, and realized I hadn't. Bother. The days are blurring together a bit as I'm sick again. Unpleasant that. Let's not dwell on that.

The topic I wished to discuss yesterday and managed to remember into today was that I'm not using my television very well. I'm using my television but not much as a television, more like a radio. I switched to a different media provider a few weeks ago and this new monolithic company provides me with a comedy radio channel. I get clips of comedy albums, radio programmes, stand-up, all sorts of good stuff, much of which I don't have. Which is nice.

Why isn't there a video channel like this? There's a load of performers from the 60s and 70s for which I'd love to see more video. Not that there aren't performers after that I wouldn't mind seeing as well but more of their work is available in one form or another. Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Cosby, etc on a television talk show in the 60s is something I have seen so little of over the years.

There are some down sides. Some of the tracks are mislabeled. Like any radio, some of the tracks, pleasant as they may be, are repeated too often. I've heard Bill Cosby's 'Chicken Heart' routine a lot these past few weeks. I like it but it's long and stops being as funny when you hear it three times in the course of three hours.

All these channels and I spend most of my time listening to the 'radio'. Silly, isn't it?

I just don't get it

At the risk of sounding like the crazy old man who ain't what he used to be, I don't understand the point of Twitter.

I understand some of the points of Twitter. It's like sending a text to a mailing list. I can see how it could be handy when reporting from an event. "Hey I'm at the Brewer game and almost caught a foul ball." That sort of thing. Just walking around on a daily basis though? How many people are interesting enough or witty enough to use 240 characters on a regular basis and have it be of interest. "Hey, I'm eating a hot dog!" is not the sort of thing that really grabs the interest.

I'm afraid that the next step is a mobile device with a GPS that would automatically update a site with your location. Then you can read 'Steve is in bed.' 'Steve is in the kitchen.' 'Steve is in the bathroom.' 'Steve is still in the bathroom.'

Won't that be fun?

Pondering heroes and villains

Not every villain needs to be horrible. Not every hero is a boy scout. Both can have codes of honor that they follow.

As an example, let's pick on El Hombre de Silla.

El Hombre tries to act as a hero while in the wrestling ring and out. Yet he carries a folding chair to the ring to use as a weapon. This could be the sort of thing associated with a cheater as he has an item that could be used to cheat. However, so long as he uses it only when it's legal, makes it clear that he's bringing the chair with him (it's not a secret that he has it) and has chair in his name (Silla being Spanish for chair), this suits his code of honor. He considers himself something of a warrior with the chair acting as both sword and shield. Having the chair could be a villainous act, but, under the circumstances, it isn't.

What can be the only difference between the way hero and villain acts is their goal. El Hombre tries to fight for the downtrodden. He fights crime. Therefore, he's a hero to those who are victims or possible victims. To criminals, he is a villain, preventing them from their goals.

A villain can become a hero if the villain fights against characters deemed to be greater villains than himself/herself. The character may change nothing apart from his opponent to facilitate this transformation. You use a hacker to catch a hacker, a thief to catch a thief, Rowdy Roddy Piper to defeat Bad News Brown or whatever.

It's the overall goal that generally determines the character's alignment in a 'ends justify the means' society.

I am the Wall

Last night I went to a concert for a band I'm familiar with, but not that familiar with, in a building I haven't been inside in years, and got to do something I'd never done before. It was a good time.

Sevendust is one of my buddy Moppy's favorite bands. He's got everything they've done, probably twice. I do have some of their music from various soundtracks and such but I mostly know them through Moppy, from car rides or tailgating or whatever. I enjoy them and their heavy metal/hard rock style music. Like I mentioned, I'm not that familiar with their work. I don't remember song titles or lyrics or anything, I just know I like the sounds they make. Normally that would not be enough to get me to go to a concert but I figured it would be a good time and, more importantly, Moppy had some free tickets so I went along.

I haven't been to the building known as the Rave in about a decade. It has been fixed up a bit in that time. It's an old, old building that's probably falling down more than it shows. The ballroom is where the concert was held and, oddly enough, was also the scene of the last concert I went to in the Rave. It has two or three areas to host concerts. It's old and a big place. I'd been using my memories of it to invent a place for my stories. It looks nicer than I've been describing it.

Moppy and I were in the midst of the crowd. When the first chords of music began, he turned sideways, became paper thin, and dove deeper into the crowd, into the center where a mosh pit was guaranteed. As I'm unable to become that thin anymore and the seam closed after he passed through it, I stayed where I was, happy to headbang by myself. We had a place to meet if we got separated so I wasn't concerned about finding him again. I just rocked and enjoyed myself.

About halfway through the concert, another mosh pit formed next to me. Now, if you've never been in a mosh pit before, they look very violent. There's a reason for that; they are very violent. It's not an angry violent, it's a very good natured sort of violent, like football. Guys slam into each other repeatedly during the music, then shake hands, hug and go on their ways. If someone gets knocked down, he gets picked back up again. If someone gets hurt, he gets helped out.

When I was younger, moshing wasn't quite such a contact sport. I still didn't do it too much due to concerns over my eyewear. Now, it's a little too rough for me. Considering where the pit formed, I became part of the pit wall. Now, the thing about these concerts is that not everyone wants to be in the pit. Some people just want to listen to the music. A wall forms around the pit to absorb the energy of the moshers and try to disperse it before it can affect the rest of the audience. Basically you're trying to block them from knocking everyone else down. Most of the time, the moshers aren't hitting the pit wall that hard. You're just helping them keep their feet. Occasionally they bump into someone wrong, lose control and you're trying to keep everyone from falling, especially yourself. I stumbled a few times but never fell. The moshers were doing their best to keep the bumps to themselves. As it should be. I would rock out during the break between songs and then return to watching the pit. When it's on you cannot take your eyes off of it. If you do, you will get knocked down.

Sevendust finished their set. Moppy, tired, rematerialized by my side. I shook hands with one of the guys from the pit before leaving. Good times.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week

Or just one comic from this week.

The Muppet Show Comic Book #1.

The art took some getting used to, but I like it. It's short 'skits' with a story arc, just like the show. I can hear the characters' voices in my head as I read the book. It's funny. I got misty eyed at the end, just like I do for some of the shows when Kermit says something sad but sweet.

It is outstanding.

Ouch

Spent all day, well, almost all day at a job fair. Too much thinking. Head hurts. Simpsons, beer, chips and nacho cheese to relax. Actual text later.

Midwest Gaming Classic

Last year I went to the Midwest Gaming Classic because I could. I had an interest in going, I had no expectations of having company and just went for the sake of wanting to be there. I ended up bumping into friends and had a fine time in general.

This year I had plans to attend with friends I don't get to see very often as they live out of town. These plans worked. In addition to having access to more classic arcade games than last year, more museum systems to look at and play, more vendors to buy from, I had my buddies to mess around with while there. It all ended up working out, which was nice. Hung out, had fun, had a nice dinner with most of them, got to tell stories, got to hear stories. Nothing explosive or overwhelming to report, unless beating Mark in Gorf counts. Or me losing my Kermit in Mickey ears pin. Drat it.

Bought a Xbox 360. It's broken. Maybe I can fix it. For $10 I decided to take the dare. I'm decent at tinkering which means I can follow directions and troubleshoot well but I can also break things that are already broken. We shall see.

'Strongman' Review

When I was twelve, I was introduced to comic books as Comic Books. I'd read them before that age and knew many of the characters from television, but suddenly there was a history there, more depth than I expected. I fell hard, as I often do when finding a new obsession.

A couple years later, I bumped into wrestling and hesitated rather than turning away. At it's core was a story similar to the comics I had gotten comfortable with reading. It was good vs evil on a stage. I got hooked.

In the 1990's my interest in wrestling revived once I started seeing luchadores, high flying styled wrestlers mostly from Mexico, as part of the shows. Comics and wrestling had more truly connected with masks designed to hide the identity of the wrestler and fighting moves that would make Spider-Man proud. Discovering that Mexican cinema had a history of taking these men and having them fight crime just cemented that connection together. My character El Hombre de Silla is born out of that fascination, in tribute to that style of entertainment.

The 'Strongman' graphic novel also follows in that tradition. It tells the story of Tigre, a formerly Santo-esqe character insomuch that he wrestled, fought crime, and made movies. Tragedy hit over thirty years ago and he is but a shadow of himself, spending much of his time drunk and wasting his life. A young woman encourages him to investigate a problem and, eventually, he gets talked into it, reviving the Tigre of old.

Over the course of the story we find out what happened that fateful day in 1973 and how it affects Tigre to this day. The story is logically laid out, well told in words and art. It is more realistic than the movies would have been in the past and yet reads like a storyboard for a movie waiting to happen. It's not that realistic. It's real enough when it needs to be and yet a story when the time is right.

I loved it. More please.

GLCW - 'Two Words ... Too Sweet' - March 21, 2009

I've been to a few cards promoted by Great Lakes Championship Wrestling and they've all been a good time. This show was no exception. We arrived at the Waukesha Expo Center with plenty of time before the show started. We got the same seats that we had for last December's Blizzard Brawl. The only variation on our side was that my buddy Mark was in the area over the weekend from Stevens Point and he attended in place of Moppy.

Match 1: ICW Title Match, Justin Dredd defending the title against Mickey McCoy

Mickey was from Ireland and Justin from Milwaukee which, oddly enough, was cause for 'USA' chants to break out. Just days after St. Patrick's day and suddenly we're anti-Irish? Weird. Justin was the face and took a good beating from Mickey. We started renaming Mickey's moves to fit his Irish background, from simple things like renaming the Russian Leg Sweep to the Irish Leg Sweep to more complex things like calling chest chops potato slices. Or something. I'm forgetting our best jokes. Justin won with a move off the top rope that was similar to a Russian Leg Sweep if both guys involved were on the top turnbuckle and did a backflip to land face down in the ring. There's a name for the move and I'm ashamed to say I can't remember what it is. Nice hot opener that got the crowd going. Justin is a little on the skinny side and would benefit from putting on some weight.

Match 2: Electric Eric Freedom vs Lenny Lane - 10 minute Time Limit

The Lenny Lane Army was ready for the appearance of their hero this time. There were signs, there was yelling, there were smiles all around. His Lenniness played the face this time. He and the 'hardcore hippie' worked a solid back-and-forth match that was ended by the Time Limit. Of course more time was asked for, Freedom tried a sneak attack as the match restarted, and Lenny got the win. After posing around the ring, slapping hands with the cheering crowd, Lenny started back towards the dressing room. With an exaggerated 'oh wait a minute' expression, he tore over to the location of the Lenny Lane Army in order to pose with us. Outstanding! Excellent fun. As predicted, my voice was already destroyed after this match.

Match 3: Three Way Dance - Matt 'Love Machine' Longtime vs Dysfunction vs Ryan Rogue

After a few moments, the characters sorted themselves out after the general positive reactions to the guys during the introductions. I've seen Dysfunction play face and heel so there was a certain 'what's he been lately' confusion. Matt Longtime is generally a heel so that wasn't complicated. Ryan Rogue was unfamiliar. Apparently Ryan's middle name is 'punching bag' as Dysfunction played heel and helped Longtime beat the snot out of him. Heel miscommunication led to Longtime hitting Dysfunction and then pinning him for the elimination. Ryan managed to rally to quickly defeat Longtime for the win. Post match, Dysfunction expressed his 'that's not how we planned it' frustration to Longtime. Dissatisfied with the response, Dysfunction superkicked Longtime, leaving Longtime in the middle of the ring, his legs raised in the air stiffly. He remained in that position until the Intermission was announced. Unsteadily, he climbed to his feet, fell, rolled from the ring, staggered, fell again, and stumbled to the back, selling the entire way. Well done sir!

Intermission - Lenny Lane set up shop on the ring apron. Once the children had a chance to say hi, the Army moved in. We said hi, bought t-shirts, laughed with him, chit-chatted about his recent brief appearance 'up north', he discussed a character idea he brought up there and expressed his annoyance with how it got shot down. He also signed the Lenny Lane Army sign I'd held up. Good times.

Match 4: Bobcat vs 'Connie Armoni' with Sunny as Guest Ref

'Connie Armoni' would be local legend Angel Armoni in a dress and wig. GLCW womens matches tend to be fun comedy matches and this one was no different. Relatively short, sweet, and to the point. When the comedy faded, a few individuals in the audience expressed their boredom but the match really wasn't long enough to lag for any real length of time. Bobcat won to become the new GLCW Ladies Champion. Fun.

Match 5: GLCW Heavyweight Title Match - Mr. A.E. vs Champion Al Snow

Mr. A.E. is also the current commissioner of GLCW so the storyline of the match revolved around his changing of the rules during the match to prevent his losing and stacking the deck against Al. It became 'no countouts', then 'no dq'. Once Al tried to bring his mascot 'Head' (a manniquin head) into the match, Mr. A.E. noted that he never agreed to a 'handicap' match so Matt Longtime came out to 'balance' things out. Al continued to survive the pummeling until the referee decided he'd had enough and refused to count a fall for Mr. A.E. The ref was dismissed and a new ref was chosen, someone already wearing black and white... Matt Longtime. Even Matt's quick counts weren't enough to count Al out after he'd had a chance to rest and Al managed a comeback. Once both Longtime and Mr. A.E. were down for the count, the original ref returned and gladly counted the fall for Al. Good work, fun storyline that was well performed. This and the Lenny Lane match were my two favorites for the night.

Match 6: 'The Match They Didn't Want You To See' - BG James and Kip James vs Kevin Nash and Scott Hall

Both teams (the former New Age Outlaws of DX and Outsiders of the NWO respectively) came out and did their traditional schtick to the delight of the crowd. A lawyer from 'Connecticut' then tried to stop the match but was told where he could go in humorous fashion. The match itself was standard, nothing special, what you'd expect from these guys and their ages but all performed well. As I predicted, Hall wrestled about 90% of the match for his team. Not only was this standard operating procedure for the Outsiders, but Nash is having elbow issues and may have been limited in what he could do. Late in the match, Hall went to tag his long-time partner but was met with a middle finger instead. Confused, he was easy prey for a Fameasser and a 3 count. Hall and Nash exchanged some words and a match between them was set up for the next card on June 12th. Very enjoyable.

Already announced for the June 12th show at the Italian Community Center:

Scott Hall vs Kevin Nash

Bobcast vs Traci Brooks for the Ladies Championship

Mr. A.E. vs the Boogieman

On the whole, an enjoyable show as I expected. Good times.

Long Weekend

Everything played out as it should. Tired. Will most likely review the wrestling card tomorrow. Maybe more to make up for this limited entry.

I still smell marker. Bother.

Invest in Yourself

"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

Normally that sort of question makes what's left of my hair curl. In a job interview, it's a difficult question for me to answer. I'm good at seeing possibilities but possible, best possible, and realistic can muddle all together. As I was talking to a buddy of mine, I answered it realistically from a creative point-of-view: two books done and released with a few short movies also to my credit. As I said, realistic based on how I tend to work. It gives me room to overachieve.

Our discussion made me realize that how I've been approaching my writing of late has been an investment in myself. Other jobs may come and go but my love for writing should always stay, always progress, and the more I have to show for using that skill, even in limited ways, is for the best. He started showing me some of his investments in himself. He's even drawing again. I think it's been years.

How are you investing in yourself?

Active for a Change

It's been a busy week. I've got a little more power on this end and I'm still trying to find ways to use it properly. I want to play a bit. All that fiddling takes time.

First I've got one of those weekends where I've got stuff planned for every day. There's hockey tonight, a wrestling show for tomorrow and the Midwest Gaming Classic on Sunday. I should get a story or two out of all that, hmm?

A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week

Dark Avengers #3 gets first billing this week. Much of the issue is Norman Osborn talking to the Sentry. "You know what," Norman more-or-less says, "you might be crazy, but you're not the only one in this room that is. Me am too." The scene goes on for pages, makes sense, finally makes the Sentry make sense to me, and accomplishes a lot. The rest of the book is good as well. Bendis' dialogue sounds real here for a change as opposed to the clipped, snappy 'real' he sometimes uses. The book may not have a long-term future but it's existence is worth it just for this issue.

Amazing Spider-Girl #30 is sadly the last issue of the regular series. It goes out with a bang, wrapping up the big storyline and setting the characters up for their briefer appearances to come in Spider-Man Family. It was a good book. I shall miss it.

Ultimatum #3 is a bit of a breather of sorts. This big, blockbuster, changing everything event is indeed changing things, in ways that would be less likely to occur in the 'mainstream' Marvel universe. This specific issue has a lot going on in it and yet feels like a breather at the same time. The characters involved are starting to get a moment, to regroup, and the issue ends with a 'let's go get him' moment. We get some confirmations of deaths, some craziness, some heroics, and some more deaths. Oddly enough, I don't mind Jeph Loeb here like I do on some other books. We're not getting the identity of Red Hulk until next year? Boo. Here, Jeph can do what he wants. It's working for me.

Night of the Living Dead - New York has the best art for one of these NotLD spin-offs yet. Story is suitably dark. What's it like being in a major city at the beginning of a major ghoul outbreak? The answer is 'not good'.

Tales of the TMNT #56 also had some really good art in it. The story brings the Han character from the most recent cartoon series into the Mirage universe, explaining his history with Casey Jones. Good stuff.

Issues #5 and #6 of Vincent Price Presents both came out this week. This is the only book I get from Bluewater Comics and, despite Vinnie 'hosting' it, it's been very lackluster so far. These two issues have redeemed the book a bit in my eyes. The story in #5 was calm but very interesting. I didn't care much for the weirdly painted style of the art at first but it grew on me and suited the story. The story is #6 was okay but the art was less so. A brief back-up story held my interest with the best art I've seen from Bluewater to date. The story was more of a prologue than anything else so I shan't judge it.

Amazing Spider-Man #588 and Amazing Spider-Man Extra #3 were both good as well, wrapping up a number of different storylines while prepping some new ones. I still don't like the story that got us here, but I do really enjoy the stories I'm getting.

There were a couple other books, but these triggered me to write.

Puzzlement

Of late, I've been dreaming a lot about almost being out of work, being in the last few days of a job. This is odd. I experienced that and those days were... uncomfortable. You'd think if I wanted to flash back to something positive, I'd flash back to the early days of my unemployment when the days were warm, the severance fattening my wallet, and baseball was there to be attended.

If I missed my job, why wouldn't I just dream about being at work? Seems odd to me.

Oy

The only thing more tiring than doing your own work is helping someone else do their work. I'm beat and my back hurts.

On the plus side, I'm writing this on my laptop via the wireless running in the house now.

Which is nice.

Fiddling and Thinking and Looking and Cleaning

I moved some equipment around and got my old iMac set up in a new area. It still runs. I started looking for a picture file and it turned out that it wasn't on the hard drive. Bother. I started going through old floppy disks to find it.

There's a thankless task.

Most of them will read but can't see all the files on the disk. I've been tossing whatever reads onto the hard drive for movement onto my newer computer systems for backup. I've gotten all too used to hearing the whirring click that indicates the disk won't read. Annoying.

I did find the file I was looking for so it wasn't completely worthless.

I do have better things to be doing. I think I'm writing something in the back of my head as I do this. This happens a lot; subconsciously working on something while I tinker with something else.

I wonder if my even older Performa will still boot up?

DRUMS! DRUMS!

If we could go back and ask seven year old Me what he wants to be when he grows up, the answer would be either 'baseball player' or 'drummer'. The reasons aren't complicated to understand. Playing baseball is fun. Animal on the Muppet Show is awesome. Done.

Apart from occasionally whistling, I have no discernible musical skills. I've had the opportunity to fiddle around with instruments in the past but I had no real clue what I was doing at the time. It always looks so easy so I never understood why I couldn't at least get some sort of rhythm from my head to the bass guitar or drum or what have you. I didn't expect to pick it up and rattle off a song, just two sounds together that seemed like they went together.

When I first started playing Guitar Hero my respect for people that play guitar for real increased. I know that playing the game and playing guitar are really nothing alike but I figure that if medium on the game kicks my butt, then real guitar playing is probably even more complicated. I huzzahed the true guitar heroes with all due respect.

I got to play drums on Guitar Hero World Tour last night. The same huzzah goes to the true drum heroes. My buddy has some real drum playing experience and the game frustrated him a bit. I got the hang of it a little. Considering it was my first day, I felt good about what I managed to do.

Maybe I can be a fake drum god, in the living room anyway.

Working Confused

One problem that I've had over the years is looking too far ahead into a project. The one story I'm working on gets multiple sequels and then story-arcs occur to me and this and that and pretty soon my energy to write the first story fades because the third story seems more interesting. Soon nothing gets done.

I'm fighting that urge right now, in a much more limited way than previously. A story idea has occurred to me for the character I've been focused on of late: El Hombre de Silla. For the past couple months, I've been working on collecting a few shorter stories together in order to have enough text to generate a book. I want to mark that off my list as a thing that's done.

I'm not sure this story will fit in this book. It might be best served in the next collection, or possibly on it's own, I'm not sure yet. It will involve research to do properly. I found a book that will likely assist me with that yesterday.

I'm concerned all this will distract me from the goal of finishing the current work. So far, I've still been making progress on the current story, both in my head and on 'paper'. It just seems... weird to be using my creative powers and trying to fight them down at the same time.

It makes my head hurt a bit. Nothing new there I suppose.

A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week

Very few thoughts this week as I got very few comics. Very light week.

Transformers - All Hail Megatron #8 (of 12) continues to keep my attention as have the earlier issues in the story. The art is clear, clean, and crisp. Characters are easy to identify by their appearance and their actions are well defined. The story progresses nicely here, apparently resolving a mystery or two and sets up more things to be concerned about. I've really been enjoying this as it's not just the standard Autobot/Decepticon battle that's been portrayed over the years. New York is in ruins and is in Decepticon control. It's a heady political thriller with action and robots. Mmm, robots.

Punisher (MAX) #68 - part three of the 'Six Hours to Kill' storyline. Frank has been poisoned and is expected to die in 6 hours. Rather than take on the mission and get the 'antidote' that he doesn't believe exists at the end, he's just decided to take out as many bad guys before he drops. The criminal element in the city, including corrupt politicians, try to stop him before he can do too much further damage. Action and gangster intrigue. So far, so good.

Invincible Iron Man #11 - part four of 'World's Most Wanted' storyline. Tony Stark (Iron Man) is on the run, a wanted criminal after failing to foresee the recent Skrull Invasion and protect his technology from this invasion. The story is making clear that Tony foresaw possible failure, perhaps not this specific failure but a failure, and took steps to prepare for what to do next. This is good business. A lot of little things happen in this issue. I'm still not sure if this is going to be a short-term storyline or if this is setting up the new setting for the book's foreseeable future. A few minus points to the artist, who's normally quite good, for making Norman Osborn look nothing like how the character is normally drawn. I didn't recognize him until the dialogue identifed him. Not good.

Besides that, I got an Index and two magazines. Very light week.

If there's a Third World, where's the Second World?

I don't like to complain about the physical comforts around me as I know that, relatively speaking, I have it very nice in America. Grousing about the availability of hot water at any given moment seems petty when compared to people in countries just looking for some clean water with which to help stay alive.

That said, you get used to things being a certain way. Certain cities are a bit different from others and certain states are vastly different from others. At the same time, living in a prosperous nation like America is, even at this specific economic point, you begin to expect certain things.

Like power. Energy.

I've lived in this neighborhood on the Northwest side of Milwaukee for almost fifteen years now and it's odd how frequently the power goes out. In the past five years, this has been especially the case. I imagine some of it is due to the new construction in the area. Not long after I updated the blog last night, the power dropped for four hours. I know when it came back on because I forgot to turn off the light switches (the lights were off, my brain didn't connect that the switches were still on because I had no light) and was woken up when the power, and lights, came back on. I think the last outage was in last December. It was morning so at least there was light to read by. Luckily it wasn't too cold a day but it was chilly by the time the power kicked back in.

It just seems odd that this is becoming more frequent. It was a minor outage and could have happened at worse times and at least my computer doesn't appear to be damaged but still.

And don't get me started on the pothole riddled roads!

Stinker from U.N.C.L.E.

I hate to criticize something that was quite possibly done as a last second thing but the last book I have in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. series, book #21, sure was a stinker. It could have been repurposed from the juvenile line of books and meant for a simpler audience. It may have been written in a weekend to fulfill a deadline for a book that didn't come through. It could have been heavily edited at the last second. Forty years later, who am I to say?

I just know it didn't read very well.

Awkward dialogue on a regular basis. The bulk of an early chapter is the standard U.N.C.L.E. organizational details that may have been slightly written from the series bible. No real transition from scene to scene or location to location. Loads of characters that get titles but no names.

Perhaps the author was young? If I had written that at 18 or 19, I would have been quite proud of myself. At my age, all I could do was edit it in my head. It lacked a lot of the wit of the other books, the well described locations, the clearly delineated characters.

I suppose, I paid my dollar years ago and took my chances. Only one didn't pan out. That's still not bad.

Brief Encounter

There had been enough walking for the moment. There was a bench around the corner, just past the escalator, in at the tail end of the 'Rocky Mountains' exhibits that would be a nice place to sit. As the bench was unoccupied, this would make my sitting easier. The whole area was quiet apart from the tape playing the sound of bears yelling and water crashing. I sat, leaned against the nearby replica tree, and started fiddling with my phone, responding to text messages. It was relaxing.

"Mind if I sit here too?"

It wasn't a squeaking voice but it had a squeaky quality to it. Sort of. It was hard to describe really, certainly unique. Momentarily annoyed that my peace had been broken, I looked up to observe the individual that had joined me.

There was no one there.

Before I could become too confused, there was a gentle cough. Looking down slightly, I could see the ... creature that had approached me. He was only a couple feet tall, green, and slightly fuzzy. He smiled. "Hi ho!"

I nodded towards the open end of the bench. "Sure. Go ahead."

He hopped up, literally, onto the bench and worked to make himself comfortable. "Thanks. Walking takes a lot out of the old flippers."

He raised a flipper attached to a skinny leg. "I can see that." This was an opportunity that couldn't be passed up. My phone could wait. "You're not from around here are you?"

"Nope. Just passing through. What gave me away? The accent?"

"Not really," I noted. "Just a passing familiarity with the Felt-Americans living in the area."

This got his attention. "You're a Friend of the Felt?"

I tried not to overstate my position. "In passing. I've met Albert at a few parties and we're friends on Facebook. It's not like I'm that close to the scene."

He grinned. "I've met the Alleycat before. Nice guy. Good deal."

"Do you want a tour? I've been coming here for years. I'm pretty familiar with some of the subtle details of the place."

"That would be swell."

I got up and gestured towards the main area, towards the Bison Hunt diorama. "C'mon, I'll show you where the rattlesnake button is hidden."

The green fella cheered, a "Yaaaaaaayyyy!" of pure enthusiasm.

Good times.