Jack LaLanne at a mere 92 -- and he could still take you one-handed It's nearly Autumn! So won't you join The Spark as we fall into the week's events? Monday: You'd think something from the 17th century that's been confirmed by every reliable scientist for the past 400 years would be over and done with, wouldn't you? On this day in 1633, astronomer Galileo Galilei was tried by the Vatican for teaching that the Earth orbits the Sun. Well, even though the Catholic Church eventually apologized to Signor Galilei (albeit in 1992), there are still some folks beating the drums for geocentrism. "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," we guess. Galileo's trial wasn’t the only event related to stirring things up on this day, though. In 1878, Upton Sinclair was born. His muckraking and provocative style evidenced itself over nearly 100 books, the most notorious of which, "The Jungle," exposed the horrors of the meat-packing industry, and led in great part to the 1906 passing of the Pure Food and Drug and Meat Inspection Acts. In 1885, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton was born. Morton was many things, including, a pianist, bandleader, and composer, but is best known for his spurious claims to have invented jazz. 1947 saw the death of New York's mayor, Fiorello La Guardia. The "Little Flower" was that rarest of animals nowadays, a progressive Republican who cleaned up the vast network of corruption in Big Apple politics. He wasn't a reformer 24/7, though, in that he was known to leave business matters at the drop of a hat to hop onto a passing fire truck, and in 1945, when a strike stopped newspapers from being printed, he read the comic section on the radio so readers could keep up with the action. Cartoon director Jay Ward would have turned 90 today. His off-kilter sense of humor leant itself to such classic shows as "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle," "Hoppity Hooper," and "George of the Jungle." But let's not forget the ladies today. Legendary actress Sophia Loren turns 76 today, and tomorrow is the 29th anniversary of Sandra Day O'Connor being approved unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice, and in 1973, Billie Jean King struck a blow for feminists everywhere when she beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets in "The Battle of the Sexes" tennis match at Houston"s Astrodome. Of course, the 30-year-old King had an age advantage over the 55-year-old Riggs, and the whole thing was little more than a massive publicity stunt, but it was still good theatre. Speaking of theatre, in 1994, songwriter Jule Styne died. Over his nearly 70-year career, he wrote more than 2,000 songs (of which the New York Times estimated that 200 were hits) and 29 musicals, some of which -- most notably "Gyspy" and "Funny Girl" -- are among the greatest achievement of the musical theatre. He was also nominted for nine Academy Awards, finally winning for "Three Coins in the Fountain" in 1953. Not so notable, though. is "Dancing with the Stars," which begins its new season tonight, as does the new incarnation of "Hawaii Five-O;" though without Jack Lord -- and his hair -- we don't know if it'll be able to suvrive. (They are keeping the classic theme song, though.) Maybe the brainiacs participating in the 2010 Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, will be able to figure that one out. Tuesday: Tougher to figure out is the case of comedian Milton Berle. In 1948, Berle was made the regular host of "The Texaco Star Theater." Almost overnight, Berle became the biggest star on television, sparking the sale of millions of TV sets as Americans clamored to see what "Uncle Miltie" would do next. He was so popular, in fact, that NBC signed him to a lifetime contract -- a contract that expired in 1978, 24 years before Berle's actual death. Turning to sports, we see that today is both the 40th anniversary of the debut of "Monday Night Football" as well as being Miniature Golf Day. It's also the 60th birthday of avid golfer and Chicago Cubs fan Bill Murray. Lots of literary doings today. In 1866, H.G. Wells was born. Wells is today best remembered for his science fiction novels like "The War of the Worlds" and "The Invisible Man," but he was also a historian and social critic and commentator. Why movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who turns 65 today, has never made one of Wells's novels into a blockbuster film we don't know. For that matter, we have to wonder why he's never made a film of one of Stephen King's books. After all, they share a birthday -- though King is two years younger. We should be thankful, though that Bruckheimer never turned Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the New York Sun asking if there was a Santa Claus (published on this day in 1897) into a mammoth summer movie -- though we suppose massive explosions don't really lend themselves to stories featuring eight-year-old Victorian girls. It's actually better fodder for an animated feature, perhaps one directed by Chuck Jones, born in 1912, and considered by many to be the greatest of all cartoon directors. His "Duck Amuck," "One Froggy Evening," and "What's Opera, Doc?" are usually considered three of the finest cartoons ever made. Wednesday: For that matter, we have to wonder why there’s never been a movie version of the life of Revolutionary War spy Nathan Hale. Seems like there’s enough adventure there to fill out a movie, but maybe the unhappy ending -- he was caught and hanged on this day in 1776 -- put the kibosh on those plans. Still, with such a killer final line ("I regret I have but one life to lose for my country"), you’d get an interesting ending. Perhaps it would have been an interesting subject for birthday boy Erich von Stroheim (1885), but given Stroheim's excesses (the first cut of his 1924 silent film "Greed" ran sixteen hours), perhaps that's not such a good idea. Speaking of spies, we note in passing that, in 1964, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." debuted on NBC (much to the delight of "Mad Men's" Sally Draper, we presume). If only Hale had lived another seven years, he might have seen Russia establishing a colony at Kodiak, Alaska in 1784 -- an event which definitely allowed what Alaskans there were to see Russia from their houses. Such an event might have been fodder for the National Geographic Magazine, except it didn't begin publishing until more than a century later, in 1888. And if any of those Russian colonists had injured themselves, well, they just would have been out of luck, since Band-Aids weren’t invented until this day in 1921. (Need we mention that Band-Aid, like Kleenex, Xerox, Aspirin, Zipper, and even Heroin, is a trademarked name?) Beginnings and endings today: The Queen Mary began her last Atlantic crossing in 1967 on its way to Long Beach, CA, where it floats today as a hotel and tourist attraction. (The ship had made her maiden voyage on September 26, 1934, so we're pretty sure the date of the finale was intentional.) Not quite as regal, but still a movie queen was Marion Davies, who died on this day in 1961. The longtime companion/mistress of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, Davies was a huge star in the 1920s. A talented comedienne, Hearst forced Davies to play dramatic parts before she finally retired from the screen in 1937. Unfortunately for her, she was the model of Susan Alexander Kane in Orson Welles's "Citizen Kane." The comparison is unfortunate because Davies, unlike Mrs. Kane, was actually talented, smart, and witty -- but history will forever associate them together. In 2007, Marcel Marceau died. Marceau was one of the world's great mimes, and while street mimes have given the art form a bad name, artists like Marceau were able to translate human emotions into wordless vignettes of joy, pain, love, and hate that anyone in any country could understand and empathize with. If Jule Styne's nine Oscar nominations seem a lot, consider the case of Harry Warren, who died in 1981. Over the course of his long career, Warren was nominated for 11, and won three. A list of his hits would be as long as your arm, from "Jeepers Creepers" and "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" (the first record to sell a million copies) to "We’re in the Money" and "42nd Street." For all his success, though, he was relatively unknown, even in his heyday. As unknown as Warren was, Irving Berlin, who died in 1989 at the age of 101 was as famous as anyone in America -- and possibly the most successful songwriter of all time. From 1911, when his first hit, "Alexander’s Ragtime Band" made him world famous, to 1961, when his last musical, "Mr. President" flopped, he wrote more than 1,500 songs, the very minimum mention of which would include "Easter Parade" "White Christmas," "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "God Bless America." Jerome Kern (no slouch at songwriting himself), said of him, "Irving Berlin has no place in American music -- he is American music." Enough of the farewells, though. Tonight, "Hell's Kitchen" returns, and we predict that chef Gordon Ramsey will swear, call someone a "donkey," and throw someone out of his kitchen in a fit of rage. If it gets too violent, we can be sure that the new police officers and ADAs of "Law & Order: Los Angeles" will be there to ensure justice is done. Ramsey's fits may seem the work of a madman, but we can be assures he’s (probably) sane, much like Joaquin Phoenix, who returns to David Letterman's show tonight to prove that his last bizarre appearance was merely a pose for his latest movie. We're usually pretty good at linking things and finding tenuous connections between events, but we'll present these three to you and hope you can find a connection. Today is not only Elephant Appreciation Day (and who wouldn't appreciate an World Carfree Day (not "Free Car" Day, mind you), as well as being Ice Cream Cone Day. Thursday: A slew of birthdays. Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in 1865. The baroness created something that is invaluable to many writers today. She invented the secret identity. In her novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel," Sir Percy Blakeney is, to all the world, an ineffectual fop. But to the terrorized rulers of post-revolutionary France, he is an avenging angel, rescuing otherwise helpless aristocrats. All right, it's not exactly Clark Kent and Superman, but it is a trope that writers have happily used in the years since. In 1865, Mary Mallon was born. Mallon was better known as "Typhoid Mary" for her uncanny ability to carry the typhoid virus without herself becoming ill. Unfortunately, she worked as a cook and housemaid and spread the disease, killing two and making dozens ill before being forced to spend the final 23 years of her life in isolation. In more current birthdays, we have Ray Charles (1930), quite possibly the hippest man who ever lived, and Mickey Rooney, who turns 90 today, and while probably not hip, is certainly hale and hearty, currently working on his 73rd year in the movie business. He was one of the top stars in the '30s and '40s, and has four movies out in 2010 and another scheduled for next year. He's the Energizer Bunny of actors. Speaking of ageless performers, Bruce Springsteen is 61 today and still performs with the energy of a man half his age. Entertainment anniversaries: 1953 saw the premiere of "The Robe," the first movie made in CinemaScope (another trademarked name!) CinemaScope was hardly the first widescreen format (1930’s "The Big Trail" was made in a 70mm process called "Grandeur," but it was the first one that stuck. Movie studios, disturbed that people were staying at home and watching television, had to come up with a gimmick that audiences could get only in a theatre; hence, the big, big screen. Of course, if entertainment was going to be like "The Jetsons," which premiered in prime time in 1962 (ABC's first series in color, by the way), maybe movie moguls only had to wait for TV shows (like 1962's "The Beverly Hillbillies," 1964's "The Munsters" and "Gilligan's Island," and 1967's "The Brady Bunch," all of which premiered this weekend) that would drive folks out of their homes and back to the movies. (Although 1968 brought us "60 Minutes," so it's not a total loss.) Not that television has gotten any better. NBC's "Outsourced" premieres tonight, set in an Indian call center, we have to wonder if any of the characters were fired by Donald Trump, whose "Apprentice" makes its return, as well. And if you can't stand those, there's always "CSI," featuring a guest appearance by teen heartthrob Justin Bieber, whom we sincerely hope plays a murder victim. If comedy is your preference, though, you might want to dig up a copy of Richard Nixon's 1952 "Checkers" speech, wherein the then-Vice Presidential candidate made a maudlin speech to defend himself from bribery charges, admitting that yes, he’d accepted a cocker spaniel puppy named "Checkers," but that he wouldn't be giving up the dog, which his daughters loved. In 1806, Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis after two years of exploring the Pacific Northwest, just in time for the Autumnal Equinox, which marks, of course, the 3/4 point in the year, and the beginning of fall. Friday: Two civil rights landmarks today. In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the desegregation of Central High School, and in 1962, the United States Court of Appeals ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith as its first African-American student. In 1896, writer F. Scott Fitzgerald was born. Fitzgerald chronicled the Roaring Twenties in such novels as "The Great Gatsby" and "The Beautiful and Damned," and was soon tempted by the bright lights of Hollywood, where he worked as a frustrated screenwriter. Even though he contributed to many, many scripts (including "Gone With the Wind"), he received only one screen credit (for 1938's "Three Comrades." Seeing that today is Fitzgerald's birthday and tomorrow is that of William Faulkner, we guess it's somehow appropriate that it's also National Punctuation Day. Faulkner toiled in Hollywood, too, but is best known for his long and dense novels set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County of Mississippi. Like Fitzgerald, he was an alcoholic, but managed to survive to 1962 (Fitzgerald had died in 1940) and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1949. We have the feeling that many high school students would like to violate the spirit of Banned Books Week (which begins tomorrow) by removing their works from the curriculum, but we would disagree. In the oddity file, 1947 supposedly saw the establishment of the Majestic 12 committee by President Harry Truman. The committee was allegedly organized to investigate UFO activity in the wake of the Roswell incident in New Mexico. The only problem is that there's no evidence that the committee ever actually existed -- which, in conspiracist's minds, is probably the surest evidence it existed. As weird as the aliens who visited Roswell were (assuming they existed) are the creatures created by Jim Henson, the Muppet master who was born in 1936. Saturday: In 1690, "Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick," the first newspaper to appear in the Americas, was published for the first -- and only -- time. Whether it was due to bad copy-editing, we don't know. Today's birthdays include two actors who portrayed movie superheroes: Mark Hamill (1951) and Christopher Reeve (1952). (We were surprised to realize Hamill was older.) Mark portrayed Luke Skywalker, the would-be Jedi with father issues, and Reeve was obviously best known as Superman. Hamill's career has continued to the present, most notably as The Joker in "Batman: The Animated Series," where Reeve's was cut short by his 1995 equestrian accident that paralyzed him from the neck down. His charity, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, is still dedicated to finding treatments and cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries. Heroes of even another sort will appear in Indianapolis when UFC 119 begins and big slabs of beef will try to pound each other into submission, a tactic that would most assuredly not be approved by birthday boy Shel Silverstein (1930), whose wicked wit has enlivened many a childhood (and adulthood, for that matter). It's also National One Hit Wonder Day, dedicated to those whose fame came and went in the twinkling of an eye, a description that would not apply to Barbara Walters, who, born in 1929, has been appearing on American television screens since 1961. Sunday: In 1774, John Chapman, aka "Johnny Appleseed," was born. Chapman was an early conservationist, who walked across colonial America, spreading, yes, apple seeds, vegetarianism, and a gospel of ecology and health. In 1871, Winsor McCay was born. The father of the American animated cartoon, McCay was a cartoonist and draftsman almost without peer, whose idea that drawings projected in sequence could give the illusion of movement created a billion-dollar industry. 1872 saw the opening of the first Shriner's Temple in New York City. We have to wonder what Shriners rode around in before those little cars were invented. In 1898, Jacob Gershowitz was born in Brooklyn. When he was 17, he published his first song as George Gershwin, and American music has never been the same. To this day, his songs are the backbone of the "Great American Songbook," and have been recorded and performed countless times. If he wrote nothing else, his opera "Porgy and Bess" would stand out at the greatest achievement in the history of the musical theatre. (There are some who would claim that place for "West Side Story," which opened in 1957. These people are wrong.) In 1902, Levi Strauss died. His fame can be judged when you count the number of people who have had articles of clothing after them at all, let alone their first names. Jack LaLanne was born in 1914, and he's still going strong. At 96, he still starts every morning with a brisk 90-minute session in the weight room, followed by a half hour walking or swimming. His lifelong commitment to health and fitness is a model to anyone of any age. He once said that he can't die, since it'd be bad for his image. We wouldn't bet against him. We end this week by going from the sublime to the ridiculous. On CBS, "The Amazing Race" returns for its latest season, offering contestants the chance to see the world while humiliating themselves and suffering from killer fatigue. On the other hand, over on Fox, the cast of "Glee" will guest on "The Simpsons." One show that's downright annoying and another that's long since passed its sell-by date. But, hey, that's showbiz! And on that note, we bid you a fond adieu until next time. Suggested Sites... Hokey Smoke! Rocky and Bullwinkle - the compleat history of Jay Ward's most famous creation. Oyez Project: Sandra Day O'Connor - evaluating the career and legacy of the first female Justice. Greed - describes TCM's restoration of Stroheim's epic. Irving Berlin: The Dean of American Songwriters - biography of the most successful songwriters in history. Banned Books Week - official site from the American Library Association. All those books you should read, but aren't supposed to.

Directory categories: Astronomy, Politics, Songwriters, Animated TV Shows, English Grammar, Usage, and Style

Archived under: 17th Century, 18th Century, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 19th Century, Actors, Al Capone, Aliens, American History, Animation, Anniversaries, Apples, Astronomy, Autos, Autumn, Awards, Banned Books Week, Batman, Beef, Biographies, Birthdays, Black History, Books, Brands, Broadway, Bugs Bunny, Business, Cartoonists, Cartoons, Celebrations, Celebrities, Chefs, Chess, Children´s Literature, Children´s TV, Citizen Kane, Classical Music, Comedians, Comic Strips, Comics, Composers, Conservation, Conspiracies, Daffy Duck, Dance, Dancing With the Stars, David Letterman, Dead Celebrities, Directors, Disease, Entertainment, Exercise, Festivals, Fiction, Filmmaking, First Amendment, Fitness, Free Stuff, Germs, Golf, Gone With the Wind, Government, Grammar, Green Living, Hanna-Barbera, Health, History, Holidays, Hollywood, Humor, Ice Cream, Inventors, Jazz, Jeans, Journalism, Law, Literature, Looney Tunes, Los Angeles, Meat, Media, Milton Berle, Movie History, Movies, Muppets, Music, Music History, Musicals, Musicians, National Geographic, Nature, Networks, New York, Newspapers, Nobel Prize, Nostalgia, Opera, Orson Welles, Oscars, Outdoors, Performing Arts, Physics, Planets, Reading, Reality TV, Regional, Revolutionary War, Rock and Roll, Santa Claus, Science, Science Fiction, Scientists, Screenwriters, Shel Silverstein, Silent Movies, Sitcoms, Spies, Superheroes, Superman, Supreme Court, TV, The Simpsons, United States, Vegetarianism, Vice Presidents, War of the Worlds, William Randolph Hearst, Women, Wrestlers, Wrestling, Writers, Writing

Post a comment (1) | Email this posting

The most famous shot in "A Trip to the Moon." Special effects have gotten slightly better in the century since. Welcome once more to The Spark, your weekly digest of events and happenings and information in the Yahoo! Directory to help you appreciate them more. As we begin this last Spark before the Labor Day holiday, we have to ask just where in the heck the summer went. Seems like it was Memorial Day about five minutes ago, and now kids are back in school and Fall is lurking around the corner. Anyway, let's look at the week ahead. Monday: It's a day for monsters and creators. In the former category, we have Benedict Arnold, who on this day in 1780, secretly promised to surrender the Continental Army's fort at West Point, NY, to the British. Arnold was an egomaniac, who was frustrated with the lack of attention he had received, and what better way to get attention than to commit treason? Speaking of outsized egos, we note that today would have been the 127th birthday of Huey Long, the "Kingfish" who ran Louisiana like a private fiefdom until he was gunned down in 1935. Long ruled the state as both governor and senator, and his campaign slogan of "Every Man a King" mixed populism and fascism in equal measure. But let us not mention only those who destroy, let's celebrate those who create. When thinking of monsters, one almost automatically turns to thoughts of Dr. Frankenstein and his creation, for which we owe thanks to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born in 1793, she wrote her novel, "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus," at the tender age of 18. And where would kids (and parents) be today without Babar? Laurent de Brunhoff (born in 1925), is son of Jean de Brunhoff, who created the elephant king, and who continued his adventures when his father died. Of course, those kids grow up to be teenagers and young adults, and where would they be without Robert Crumb, who turns 73 today? Crumb was in the vanguard of the underground comix movement of the 1960s, and he’s still active and creative, and his influence on modern pop culture is incalculable. And what would pop culture be without the Beatles? One hesitates to guess, but you can try to get a handle on it this week at the International Beatle Week in Liverpool, England. Of course, the Beatles played in the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York when they made their American debut in 1964, and that theatre is today home to the Late Show with David Letterman, which made its own debut in "the Ed" in 1993. A nice contrast to end the day. Gazillionaire Warren Buffett hits the big 8-0 today, and out in the Nevada desert, Burning Man begins. The best thing we can say about Burning Man is that it gets all those people who want to go to Burning Man in one spot away from the rest of us. Tuesday: More monsters. In 12, Gaius Caligula was born. Though the surviving sources are incomplete, Caligula was one of the most notorious Roman emperors of them all, known for the stories of his cruelty, instability, and sexual perversion. (We won’t deal with them here, but you can find the stories easily enough.) But Caligula isn't the only monster we note. On this date in 1888, Mary Ann Nichols was murdered and became the first of known victim of Jack the Ripper. And, of course, in 1928, Berlin saw the premiere of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s "Die Dreigoschenoper" (known in English as "The Threepenny Opera"), with its main character, the vicious murderer Captain Macheath, better known as "Mack the Knife." In 1959, Bobby Darin had a huge hit with that song (which is really odd, when one considers it's about a mass murderer killing people), and Friday will see the 51st anniversary of that song being banned by WCBS radio in New York City. At the time, there had been a series of teenage stabbings in the city, and the station didn't want to those crazy teens any ideas. And while marijuana possession is small potatoes compared to all of the above, we see that, in 1948, actor Robert Mitchum was arrested in a Hollywood drug bust, and was eventually sentenced to 60 days in prison, a scandal which in those days threatened to kill his career, but nowadays would rate only a passing mention on "Entertainment Tonight." All this talk of criminals and murderers makes us long for a hero, and fortunately, in 1942, "The Adventures of Superman" radio series began airing on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Wednesday: All we have for today is that in 1902, George Melies’s "A Trip to the Moon," was released in France and became the world’s first science fiction film. Thursday: So, in 490 BCE, the Athenian army was at Marathon, battling with Persia. The herald Pheidippides was sent to Sparta for help. He ran the 150 miles in two days, but because of religious laws, the Spartans couldn't send any help, so he ran back. In spite of not having the extra troops, Athens won the battle. And poor Phidippides took off again, this time running the 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens to carry the news of the victory. He gasped out his last words, "We have won," and dropped dead of exhaustion. The lesson: do not underestimate the usefulness of warm-ups and warm-downs. In 1666, the Great Fire of London began in the wooden house of King Charles II's baker. By the time it ended three days later, more than 13,000 houses, including St Paul's Cathedral, had burned to the ground -- but amazingly, only six people had died. If you were living in England in 1752, tomorrow would have been September 14th. While most of the rest of the world had switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar in 1582, the stubborn Brits had stuck to their guns. But, after nearly 200 years, there was an eleven-day discrepancy between the two calendars, and the English had no choice but to convert. There were actual riots, as people cried, "Give us back our eleven days!" But it was to no avail. Great Britain and her colonies were dragged kicking and screaming into the 18th century. Speaking of fighting against reality, in 1934, singer Russ Columbo accidentally shot himself to death. Columbo was a wildly popular singer and actor, and when he killed himself (with an antique gun that was supposedly unloaded), his friends thought the news would prove fatal to his mother, so for the last years of her life, those friends created an elaborate ruse, sending postcards and letters from far-off locations, and using his records to simulate a radio show. In 1944, Mrs. Columbo died, never suspected that her son had died a decade before. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: Let's talk about pioneers this weekend. First, there's Louis Sullivan, born in 1856. Sullivan is, for all intents and purposes, the man who invented the skyscraper. Since Chicago had had its own giant fire in 1871, Sullivan had the opportunity and the laboratory to erest steel-framed buildings that towered over anything built before. In 1833, 10-year-old Barney Flaherty answered an ad in "The New York Sun" and became the first world's first newsboy, which is why we celebrate Newspaper Carrier Day today -- at least for those relatively few Americans who still have newspapers carried to them. Sunday would have been the 163rd birthday of Jesse James. Jesse was not the first Western outlaw, but he was the first to become world famous while plying his dubious trade. 1885 saw the opening of the Exchange Buffet in New York City. It was the first self-service restaurant (read, "cafeteria") in the United States. We don't know if they served chocolate (we'd guess yes), but whether they did or not, it's World Chocolate Day Friday, so you can serve yourself and indulge. In 1888, George Eastman registered the trademark "Kodak" (for the clicking sound a camera's shutter makes) and received a patent for his camera that used rolled film. Eastman's "Brownie" camera came from the factory loaded with enough film for 100 photos. When the roll was complete, the customer would mail the whole camera back to the factory in Rochester, NY, where the pictures would be developed and sent back along with a new camera. Sunday is the 81st birthday of comedian Bob Newhart. Newhart is a two-time pioneer, having been in the forefront of the stand-up comedy revolution of the 1950s, when he transformed himself from "button-down accountant" to a comedian with the top-selling album in America. Then, in the '70s, his sitcom, "The Bob Newhart Show," set new standards for writing, ensemble acting, and just plain goofiness. The weekend before Labor Day always marks the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. While it's easy to criticize the telethon for its corniness and out-of-date show business aesthetic, it's impossible to deny Lewis's commitment and ability to raise money -- nearly a billion-and-a-half dollars since 1966. Lastly, we'll note the 98th birthday of the late avant-garde composer John Cage with 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Suggested Sites... United States Military Academy at West Point - for sale, cheap. Contact Gen. Arnold. Official R. Crumb Site - keep on truckin'. The Beatles - the core of the apple. Dangerous Minds: Early Technicolor - the good folks at Kodak bring you color movies from 1922. Jerry Lewis Telethon - mock him if you will, but he does good work.

Directory categories: Revolutionary War, Children's Literature, Rock and Pop Artists, Musicals, Running

Archived under: 17th Century, 18th Century, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 19th Century, Actors, American History, Ancient History, Anniversaries, Architects, Architecture, Artists, Arts, Athletes, Authors, Berlin, Birthdays, Books, Buildings, Burning Man, Business, Calendars, Cameras, Cartoonists, Celebrations, Celebrities, Chicago, Children´s Literature, Classical Music, Comedians, Comic Books, Comics, Communities, Composers, Conspiracies, Contemporary Art, Counterculture, Crime, Criminals, Cultures, David Letterman, Dead Celebrities, Dictators, Ed Sullivan, England, Entertainment, Europe, European History, Events, Exercise, Festivals, Fiction, Fire, Fitness, Food and Drink, Germany, Gunslingers, History, Holidays, Huey Long, Invention, Inventors, Jack the Ripper, John Lennon, Law Enforcement, Literature, London, Martin and Lewis, Media, Millionaires, Monsters and Creatures, Movies, Murder, Music, Music History, Musicals, Mythology and Folklore, New York, News, Newspapers, Nostalgia, Old West, Performing Arts, Philanthropy, Photography, Radio, Regional, Restaurants, Rock and Roll, Rome, Running, Scandals, Science Fiction, Serial Killers, Silent Movies, Singers, Skyscrapers, Society and Culture, Superheroes, Superman, TV, The Beatles, The West, Theatres, U.K. History, United Kingdom, United States, Unsolved Crimes, Urban Legends, Variety Shows, Vintage, War, Weird Stuff, Westerns, Women, Writers, Writing

Post a comment (5) | Email this posting

"Mad" artist Sergio Aragones details the doings at Free Comic Book Day It's a smorgasbord of four-color fun! (Photo by David Jackmanson) It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon. You've just gotten back from another viewing of "Kick Ass." You're burned out from playing "Super Street Fighter IV" since Tuesday. So what to do next? Why not read some comic books? Comics? Do they still make those? Why, certainly! And not only do they still make them, but (Saturday only) they're free! Well, not every comic, but a lot of 'em. The first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day at your local funnybook emporium, and comics publishers have made over thirty titles available for your reading pleasure -- and all for free. We'll grant you that the idea of entering a store filled with fanboys may seem intimidating, but let us assure you that most comic retailers run pleasant establishments that are clean, well-lighted, and downright hip. And there's something for everyone. For the kiddies, there are favorites like "Owly and Friends," the "Archie" gang, "Shrek," 'Sonic the Hedgehog," "Toy Story, "and "The DC Kids Mega-Sampler." Superhero fans will find "Doctor Solar and Magnus, Robot Fighter," "Iron Man and Thor," "The Tick," and "War of the Supermen." Nostalgically-minded readers can get reacquainted with Alex Raymond's "Secret Agent X-9" and "The Green Hornet," whiile those looking for more mature entertainment can turn to "Irredeemable" and "The Sixth Gun." Best of all (in our opinion) is "Yow!," which collects some of writer/artist John Stanley's classic "Little Lulu" stories. At many stores, the creators will be present to sign their books and chat with fans. And did we mention they're free? Though if you feel like actually buying something, you can get a head start on the next round of movie blockbusters -- "Thor," "Jonah Hex," "The Avengers," and "Green Lantern" -- and be the envy of all your friends. Suggested Sites... Free Comic Book Day - official site with information on titles, participating stores, and creators. Comic Shop Locator - not sure where to go to get your free comics? Find out here! Marvel Comics - home of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and the rest of the World's Mightiest Heroes. DC Comics - information on such characters as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Green Lantern. Free Comic Book Day Reviews - the Bureau Chiefs preview the free offerings.

Directory categories: Comic Books, Comic Book Stores, Comics and Animations, Comic Book-Based Movies, Superhero Movies

Archived under: Artists, Books, Children, Children´s Literature, Comic Books, Comics, Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Superheroes, Superman

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

The beginning of the "Marvel Age of Comics," headaches for Disney, and fat fees for lawyers We see in the papers today that Marvel Comics, Disney, and the estate of Jack Kirby are all at each other’s throats, suing and counter-suing over the rights to some of Marvel's most valuable characters, such as The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, The Avengers, and Nick Fury. That matters should have come to such a pass is not especially surprising. In recent years, copyright laws have changed, and as the copyrights for characters created in the 1930s and '40s have begun to run out, a number of comic creators have sued to regain control over their creations. The heirs of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster have indicated their intention to cancel -- or at the very least, alter -- their 1938 agreement with DC Comics (which gave the corporation all rights to the Man of Steel for $130). The late writer Steve Gerber tried to gain control of his character Howard the Duck (to no avail). Joe Simon, Kirby's long-time partner, sued Marvel as to who owned Captain America (they settled out of court), and Carmine Infantino, the artist who revolutionized the 1960s look of Batman, filed suit to claim ownership of such characters as "Silver Age" Flash, Batgirl, and The Elongated Man. Kirby, along with writer/editor Stan Lee, pretty much created the Marvel Universe in the 1960s as they went along. Unlike the traditional method of a writer working from a detailed script, the "Marvel Method" of comic book writing was to have a writer and artist come up with a plot, which the artist would then draw, adding or subtracting story elements and characters, leaving the writer to fill in the dialogue. With such working methods, it was easy to confuse who created which characters. The claim of the Kirby estate is that he was never an official employee of Marvel; that he was creating concepts on his own that the company used. Marvel's contention is, of course, just the opposite. But don't forget that Stan Lee has also filed suit, claiming he is owed compensation for the characters he created with Kirby and artist Steve Ditko (such as Spider-Man and Doctor Strange). Not every character has such a muddied past. Bob Kane retained control over Batman, although writer Bill Finger, who contributed most of the ideas, was left out in the cold. And Wonder Woman was watched over by her creator, psychologist William Moulton Marston (and his estate), from the 1940s until DC finally purchased all the rights in the 1990s. Regardless of how the Kirby lawsuit is settled, things don't bode well for corporately owned characters. Eventually, characters as diverse as Superman, Scarlett O'Hara, and even Mickey Mouse will come into the public domain, allowing anyone to do anything with them. Whether that's a blessing or a curse, only time -- and the courts -- can tell. Suggested Sites... The Jack FAQ - friend and collaborator Mark Evanier answers questions about Jack "King" Kirby. Marvel Sues to Invalidate Copyright Claims by Jack Kirby's heirs - Marvel/Disney's response to the Kirby estate. Kirby Family Attorneys Respond to Marvel Lawsuit - the family's response to the Marvel response. Newsarama: Jeff Trexler - provides updates on the lawsuits the Siegel and Shuster estates have filed to regain Superman. When U.S. Works Pass Into the Public Domain - it's muddy, to say the least....

Directory categories: Copyright Law, Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics, Comic Book Characters, Comic Books

Archived under: Artists, Batman, Captain America, Cartoonists, Comic Books, Comics, Creativity, Disney, Entertainment, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Law, Legal Cases, Spider-Man, Stan Lee, Superheroes, Superman

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

The Janes Family in 1955 (Photo by Melissa Gutierrez) It's hard to believe it's the end of 2009 already. It seems like the year started about ten minutes ago -- and that it was the turn of the century about a week ago. As has been our custom the last couple of years, we approached our crack Spark staff and asked them what they were proudest of in the past twelve months. Michelle is learning to be less of a packrat after losing thirteen years' worth of email in a series of computer disasters. She's finally stopped crying, the uncontrollable twitching is getting better, and she’s pretty sure that a few years of therapy will help her learn to let go. Mike: This year, I finally achieved my New Year's Resolution of losing 40 pounds, cutting out all sweets, and I can bench-press three times my own weight! Next year, I'm going to win the lottery! Heather finally became a grown-up this year when she ditched the twin and bought her first full-size bed at the age of 25. She dreams big, so next year she's hoping to upgrade her current dresser to one that actually has wooden drawers. Eugenia shot the oyster. No one else was harmed in the process. Sarah: I read 35 books and purchased approximately 150 more. Chris: I've managed to convince my four-year-old picky eater, that yes, potato chips are in fact made out of potatoes. Next year's goal is to get him to actually eat potatoes. Dave fulfilled a lifelong dream of visited both Metropolis (the home of Superman) and Portmeirion, Wales (where the original "Prisoner" TV series was filmed). Fortunately, he was able to avoid "Rover" and escape. Next year, he hopes to visit Gotham City, Deadwood, and Freedonia. Helene ne comprend toujours pas ces Américains fous. Richard still hasn't been seen since he succumbed to his Facebook addiction. Best wishes to you and yours over the holidays and in the coming year (we’d say "the coming decade," but any fool knows that the first decade of the 21st century won’t end until December 31, 2010). Love, The Spark Household Suggested Sites... Shelfari - tell the world about the books you're reading and how you liked them. 10 Tips For Picky Eaters - the Mayo Clinic tells how to cure them, not encourage them. The Invention of the Potato Chip - you can thank George Crum of Saratoga Springs, NY. Portmeirion Village - more than a hotel, it's an icon. Awkward Family Photos - the Janes Family above would fit right in.

Directory categories: Weight Loss, Weight Training, Furniture Retailers, Potatoes, The Prisoner

Archived under: Books, Candy, Collecting, Computers, Cooking, Deadwood, Decorating, Design, Diets, Eating, Holidays, In Character, Motivation, New Year, Reading, Recreation and Travel, Roadside Attractions, Shopping, Social Networking, Superman, TV, The Spark, Tourist Attractions, United Kingdom, Yahoo!

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting