This might be satisfying, but it wouldn't exactly be polite. Violators beware! (Photo by Mark Wallace) Once upon a time, the term "etiquette" referred to knowing which fork one used at the dinner table (the one on the outside), or which side of the sidewalk a gentleman should walk on when escorting a young lady (the side closest to the curb). Lately, etiquette's become something of a dirty word, though. At best, it evokes a nostalgic sentiment for the "good old days;" at worst, a general distain for a kind of archaic protocol that seems to have no place in the modern world. And while it's true that, nowadays, few people outside of historical reenactment societies need to know the proper way to leave a calling card, the art of civility and good manners is not yet obsolete. Consider the Internet troll who launches a flame war on your comments page. What's the proper way to tell them to mind their own beeswax without making yourself look like a fool? Then there's the sticky situation of how to politely deny your diabetic relative's request for marijuana. Not to mention the ever-important question of how to convey to the woman you've just walked into your apartment building after a date that you're not a rapist. No, this isn't Amy Vanderbilt's or Emily Post's brand of etiquette (even though Miss Vanderbilt’s “Book of Etiquette” was published on this date in 1952). But even in a post-Lewinsky world, it seems we still have some need for decorum (as so aptly demonstrated by the formal rebuke of Republican Representative Joe Wilson after his "You lie!" remark during the State of the Union speech). So turn off your cell phone when attending the theater, don't text while at the movies (we can still see the glow of the screen even if the ringer’s off), turn your radio down at the drive-thru, and send your thank you cards via e-mail  -- just make sure to claim it's in the name of saving the environment, and not because you're too lazy to buy a card, write a message, find a stamp, lick the envelope, and send it. Suggested Sites... Emily Post’s Etiquette Daily - http://www.etiquettedaily.com/ The Urban Etiquette Handbook - the answers to all your modern conundrums -- like who walks the bride down the aisle when there are two of them. Dear Prudence - Slate's advice column on manners and morals. The Core Rules of Netiquette - how to deal with forwards, flaming, and the dreaded caps lock key. Modern Manners Guy - podcast about modern manners issues.

Directory categories: Etiquette, Netiquette, Cell Phone Etiquette, Emily Post, Wedding Etiquette

Archived under: 1950s, Anniversaries, Authors, Books, Eating, Etiquette, Society and Culture, Telephones, Writers, dating

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Who knows what evil lurks behind those covers? (Photo by Stewart Butterfield) Thank goodness you’re here! The Spark is one of the last safe sources of reading pleasure (but not too much pleasure, mind you). If you're reading this it means you're not reading one of those hundreds of questionable books that have been sprinkled throughout the nation's libraries just to tempt us with their naughty bits. Since the dawn of the printing press, people have cranked out dangerous books to promote and distribute their dangerous ideas (and you wonder why printers' apprentices used to be called "devils?"). And they keep making new ones! When trying to get books off library shelves and out of schools, it takes a great deal of effort for a few successes. As we stamp out one fire, two more are lit. Just within the past few years, books have been written especially for children with themes including sex, drugs, magic, vegetarian propaganda, and gay penguins. While these naughty books are fairly easy to spot, safe books are harder to find. Some well-meaning folks have published lists of recommendations, but even these must be revisited. I consulted a couple of lists that had glaring titles that should certainly have been omitted. "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?" Safe? What was that caterpillar smoking, anway? "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble?" Harmless? It has the word "magic" right there in the title! And the police are pigs! Our task is huge, but we must be vigilant. We must scour every text that might be put into childrens' hands. Find each objectionable section and read it. Read it again. Highlight it. Then hide it away (under the mattress is best), and make sure nobody else gets a look at it. Suggested Sites... ALA: Banned and Challenged Books - information and resources, including a Banned Books Week blog, and info about notable First Amendment cases. Banned Books Week - links to events across the U.S., with videos, resources, and ideas for fighting censorship. Amnesty International: Banned Books Week - reminding us that around the world, authors aren't just banned, they're persecuted. NCAC: Banned Books Week - National Coalition Against Censorship provides an interactive map and a very funny author video. KidSPEAK! - organization of kids, parents, teachers, and others who wish to defend the First Amendment (and continue to read Harry Potter books).

Directory categories: Banned Books Week, Banned Books, Censorship, Public Libraries, Children's Literature

Archived under: Authors, Banned Books Week, Books, Censorship, Children´s Literature, First Amendment, In Character, Reading, School, Words, Writers

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The King holding court at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Alan Light) How did a kid from the Lower East Side of New York grew up to become the "King of Comics," and have an immeasurable impact on the world’s popular culture? That’s the story of Jacob Kurtzberg, better known as Jack Kirby, who was born on August 28, 1917. As a child, Kirby was likelier to get into fistfights than study art, but he was captivated by such masters of the comic strip as Alex Raymond ("Flash Gordon"), Hal Foster ("Prince Valiant"), and Milton Caniff ("Terry and the Pirates"). He enrolled at the Pratt Art Institute, but soon left because they wanted him to linger over his work, and he wanted to "get things done." His imagination was so full and his creativity so profound that he rarely lingered over anything, turning out dozens of pages of brilliant comic art every week. From Pratt, he went to the Fleischer animation studios (working on their "Popeye" cartoons), but left because of the "production line" way the movies were turned out). He then tried creating a number of comic strips (under an equal number of pseudonyms: Curt Davis, Fred Sande, Jack Curtiss, Ted Grey, and even just "Teddy"). While his work was good, nothing stuck until he met fellow writer and artist Joe Simon. With Simon, he created the character Captain America for Timely Comics (the precursor of today's Marvel Comics), and the rest was history. Simon and Kirby became one of the top teams in comics history, but when they suspected they were being underpaid, they moved to DC Comics, revitalizing such characters as Manhunter and The Sandman, and creating The Guardian and The Boy Commandos. After World War II, the duo went back to work, creating the classic "Boys’ Ranch," the tongue-in-cheek "Fighting American," any number of crime comics, and even found time to invent the romance comic genre. But good things can last only so long, and the partnership split up. Kirby went back to DC, where he created "The Challengers of the Unknown." But after another legal battle, he returned to Marvel, where he began an unparalleled run that saw him co-create scores of characters, including The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, The X-Men, The Avengers, Thor, The Silver Surfer, Dr. Doom, and The Black Panther, mainstream comics' first black superhero. His muscular and dynamic style was credited by the New York Times as creating "a new grammar of storytelling and a cinematic style of motion ... Even at rest, a Kirby character pulsed with tension and energy in a way that makes movie versions of the same characters seem static by comparison." But the comics business being what it is, and Kirby being Kirby, following a dust-up over creator's rights and original art, he again went back to DC, creating the "Fourth World," a series of characters (The Demon, Mister Miracle, The New Gods, and Darkseid, DC's ultimate supervillain) and storylines that were nothing less than cosmic in scope. After only four years, though, he was back at Marvel yet again, leaving only three years later to work in animation (becoming an inadvertent footnote in the Iran Hostage Crisis of the 1980s). But ink was always in Kirby's blood, and after another brief stint at DC, he went to smaller publishers that allowed him not only full creative freedom, but also the ownership of his characters -- something he'd always craved. He died in 1994, never having lost any of his talent or creativity. It's hard today to find a comics artist -- or even a film director -- who has not been influenced in some way by Kirby's dramatic and dynamic style. He set the standard, and even 15 years after his death, he is still "the King." Suggested Sites... Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center - promoting and encouraging the study, understanding, preservation, and appreciation of the work of Jack Kirby. Jack Kirby - really nice analysis of Kirby's style and influence. Marvel Comics Database: Jack Kirby - detailed biography, with links to massive galleries of Kirby covers, characters, and interior art. Grand Comics Database: Jack Kirby - 60 years of comics, catalogued and categorized. Wikipedia: Jack Kirby - extensive biography of the King.

Directory categories: Jack Kirby, Comic Book Artists, Comic Books, Marvel Comics, DC Comics

Archived under: 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Animation, Artists, Arts, Biographies, Birthdays, Captain America, Cartoonists, Celebrities, Comic Books, Comic Strips, Comics, Entertainment, History, Men, Popeye, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Villains, Writers

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Dust-jacket of the original edition of "Catcher in the Rye" "It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road." For nearly 60 years, its bound pages have served as a quasi-bible for angst-ridden and disenfranchised adolescents. Dog-eared, loose-leafed copies have been sullenly passed from tormented teen to tormented teen on campuses and in libraries across the globe. And though it's one of the most frequently-taught books in high school and college classrooms, it's also been one of the most controversial and banned books of the last half-century, mostly due to its profanity, sexual content, and blatant encouragement of rebellion. I'm speaking, of course, of J.D. Salinger's masterpiece "The Catcher in the Rye," and its quintessential anti-hero, Holden Caulfield. First published on July 16, 1951, as a novel for adults, Salinger's fictional account of the days young Holden spends in New York City after being expelled from Pencey Prep immediately struck a chord with disaffected, brooding teens and still does today. It's frequently listed as one of the best novels of the 20th century and still consistently sells around a quarter of a million copies a year. Given its popularity, it remains one of the most surprising and conspicuous stories never adapted for the stage or film. Everyone from Samuel Goldwyn to Steven Spielberg has made a bid for a screen version, and actors ranging from Jerry Lewis to Leonardo DiCaprio have yearned to add Holden to their resumes, but to no avail. The famously-reclusive author has refused every offer for rights to his book and, as Joyce Maynard famously averred, "The only person who might ever have played Holden Caulfield would have been J.D. Salinger." That hasn't stopped filmmakers from trying, however. Many critics have noted significant "Catcher" influences in such films as "Six Degrees of Separation," "Field of Dreams," "Rushmore," "Rebel without a Cause," "Charlie Bartlett," and many others. Salinger is so protective of "Catcher in the Rye" that, despite being 90, ailing, and deaf, he recently sued writer "John David California" over an unauthorized "Catcher" sequel titled "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye." Some call him crazy, but we understand that he's just trying to keep those "goddamn phonies" from possibly ruining one of the 20th century's most enduring and endearing protagonists, and quite possibly, a mirror of himself. Suggested Sites... Salinger.org - dedicated to reclusive writer Jerome David Salinger. Includes bibliography, characters, opinions, anecdotes, and more. Jerome: The J.D. Salinger Fanlisting - fanlisting for the author of "Catcher in the Rye," "Nine Stories," "Franny and Zooey," and others. Exploring "The Catcher in the Rye" - indexes the nearly one hundred characters and the various topics in "The Catcher in the Rye." Also features "Catcher" fan fiction, art, observations, and news. The Onion: New Terminator Movie Brings J.D. Salinger Out Of Hiding - J.D. Salinger's take on the "Terminator" franchise. Fictional, but very funny. YouTube.com: Catching Salinger - Pencey Prep - scene from the documentary "Catching Salinger," featuring an interview with a former classmate of Salinger's.

Directory categories: J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Literature, Banned Books

Archived under: 1950s, Anniversaries, Authors, Books, Censorship, Counterculture, Fiction, Movies, Recluses, Teens, Writers, Writing

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"Bottoms up!" The Elite Cafe's oyster shooter (Photo by jessbess1) Of all the foods that can evoke strong feelings, the oyster takes the crown. It can provoke swoons of delight or disgust. It is an aphrodisiac and a delicacy. But did you ever think that the oyster leads "a dreadful but exciting life" characterized by "stress, passion, and danger?" Those are the words of M.F.K. Fisher, the celebrated food writer who died 17 years ago this week. Of her many books on eating simply and well, my favorite is "Consider the Oyster," published in 1941. Reading this slim book inspired me to go on an oyster crawl in my own San Francisco neighborhood, where the oyster has become a staple of happy hours. My fellow Yahoo! editor Jessica and I began our "Pac Heights Oyster Crawl" at the revered Swan's Oyster Depot. To be honest, in all my time living in San Francisco, I had never once ventured into this famously divey seafood bar, despite walking past it every day. We sat down just in time for the friendly guys behind the bar to serve up some super-fresh seafood cocktails (shrimp, crab, lobster meat, and clams topped with a big Blue Point oyster) and sourdough bread. Halfway through my beer, our oysters arrived: two kinds of Miyagi oysters (one local from Tomales Bay and the other from Washington state) and sweet Kumamotos (Jessica's favorites). All were crisp and clean. The oyster starts out his "devil-may-care" infancy as a male, but that quickly changes. Fisher tells us in her book that "one day, maternal longings surge between his two valves in his cold guts and gills and all his crinkly fringes. Necessity, that well-known mother, makes him one. He is a she." Just as quickly as the oyster changes its identity, we hopped into a cab to hit our next oyster destination, The Elite Café. The restaurant's $1 happy hour ends at 6 p.m., and we were not about to miss it. From the handful of oysters at the bar (two types were $1, the rest were $2 each), we sampled the buttery Skookum, the strong, bright Hama Hama (my own favorite), and a few Kumamotos. The bar's exceptional cocktail list includes an "Oyster Shooter" (an oyster swimming in jalapeno vodka and cocktail sauce). While Jessica sipped on her very sophisticated Blanton's bourbon over ice, I dared to down the shooter. Only when the oyster becomes a female does it gain the appearance that is familiar to most diners. "She has grown into a gray-white oval shape, with shades of green or ocher or black in her gills and a rudimentary brain in the forepart of her blind deaf body," Fisher writes. Oh, no, the oyster has a "rudimentary brain?" Feeling guilty about subjecting the poor oyster to jalapeno vodka (and my esophagus), we moved sluggishly onto our final destination, the Woodhouse Fish Company. A new addition to the ‘hood, this small local chain's $1 oyster happy hour offered creamy Dabob Bay oysters on a bed of seaweed and ice. (We didn't have the stamina to sample the restaurant's BBQ oysters.) Our resolve to sample the slippery, raw bivalves was wearing thin, though the restaurant's potato gratin and French fries more than rounded out our meal. The life of an oyster is short, Fisher writes. "Its chilly, delicate gray body slips into a stewpan or under a broiler or alive down a red throat, and it is done." And so was our first oyster crawl -- but it is definitely not our last. As Fisher writes, "[The oyster's] life has been thoughtless but no less full of danger, and now that it is over we are perhaps better for it." Suggested Sites... What Kind of Oyster Eater Are You? - shrinking violet, brine hound, or the wild one? How to Order Oysters at a Raw Bar - ... and look cool doing it. The Oyster Guide - like wine and cheese, oysters owe much of their flavor to terroir. How to Shuck an Oyster - without injuring yourself. SF Weekly: The Dollar Oyster List - the best in bargain Bay bivalves.

Directory categories: M.F.K. Fisher, Oyster Recipes, San Francisco Restaurants, Seafood Recipes, Food Writers

Archived under: Authors, California, Eating, Food and Drink, In Character, Restaurants, San Francisco, Writers

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