Happy Birthday, The Family Circus

It was 58 years ago this month that the newspaper comic strip (although not a strip, strictly speaking), The Family Circus, first appeared. In fact, 1960 was a Leap Year and the first cartoon appeared on February 29th, 1960, making it impossible for me to post its birthday on the actual date until 2020, so rather than wait I just used the month. Happy Birthday to The Family Circus!

The first Family Circus comic panel.

The first Family Circus comic panel.

As a child, I read the comics page in our newspapers (we had one delivered in the morning and a different one delivered in the afternoon) and for the longest time I thought the cartoon was The Family CIRCLE because, well, I think you can see why.

I don’t remember my exact age when this incident happened, though it seems like I was in first grade, but I was sitting at the dining room table and said something to my mother in the kitchen like, “Today’s Family Circle is pretty funny.” and she looked over toward me with a puzzled look on her face, then noticed I had the newspaper open to the comics page in front of me and said, “Honey, it’s Family CIRCUS, not circle.” I looked down at the heading over the comic and sure enough…

So Happy Birthday, The Family CIRCUS!

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Congratulations Philadelphia Eagles – Super Bowl 52 Champs

That was SOME game!

Philadelphia Eagles logo

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Restoring Family Photos Damaged by Hurricane Harvey

Homeowner surveys home destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in this photo from NBC NewsHere in Texas, we’re approaching the 6-month mark following Hurricane Harvey’s tremendous impact on the Texas coastal area and metropolitan Houston, resulting in 68 deaths directly related to the storm, and in massive property damage and destruction.

Having lived through Hurricane Charley in Florida back in 2004, I have a small idea of what survivors of Harvey have and are experiencing.

When you think of the damage inflicted your mind typically goes to residential and personal property items such as homes, appliances, furniture, clothing, and automobiles. As devastating as those losses can be, they can all be repaired and/or replaced.

But one of the most heartbreaking losses for most survivors is the loss that occurs when one-of-a-kind or single-copy family photos are damaged by wind and water, rendering them, in many cases, unfit to be re-framed or displayed as they were pre-disaster.

So I’m happy to see this feel-good story and video from AdWeek sharing how a group of high schoolers from San Antonio, Texas who are members of an Adobe (makers of Photoshop software) group known as ambassadors, spent weeks employing their Photoshop skills and talent to repair rips, tears, color and water-damaged family photos. The students then returned to those homes in December of last year to present the repaired, printed, and newly-framed photos to survivors, still struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey.

Damaged photo before and after

I doubt that many people can watch the 4-minute video without their eyes at least watering up when they see the joy and tears of happiness from the survivors AND those students with the results of restoring family photos damaged by Hurricane Harvey.

Good work guys.

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“He’s The Batman!”

Dennis the Menace comic strip

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This and That

Just a collection of this and that from recent things I’ve read, seen, or experienced.

You know, I just can’t find it in my heart or head to blame Mr. Randall Margraves for his actions in a Michigan courtroom today. I fully understand, as I believe Mr. Margraves does as well, that this is not the way our justice system works, but I can’t say with conviction that I would not have wanted to do the very same thing.

Randall Margraves attacks Larry Nassar in court.

 

Robert Wagner and Natalie WoodDid Robert Wagner kill Natalie Wood? I well remember when Ms. Wood drowned in 1981. Even before the days of social media that centered on Hollywood, the suspicious drowning of one of Tinsel Town’s best and most beautiful actresses made the news programs across the country (especially the nascent CNN 24- hour news network) fill our TV screens, newspapers, and Enquirer-type rags with news of the death and then conjecture that her husband, Robert Wagner, had thrown her overboard from their boat.

And, that’s what we’re conditioned to think. Crime thriller books and criminal procedure TV shows have taught us that the first person you look at is the spouse or person closest to the deceased. But those books and TV shows didn’t make that up by themselves. Historically, law enforcement has shown that indeed, that is where you will most likely find your murderer.

So, did Robert Wagner kill Natalie Wood? I don’t know, and a little over 36 years later I don’t see how the justice system will be able to prove Mr. Wagner murdered Ms. Wood, outside of an until-now-silent eyewitness or a confession from Mr. Wagner.

"Hello My Name Is Introvert" name badgeAre you an introvert or an extrovert, or somewhere in between? I was a shy child. I remember when I was eight or nine years old running home from a friend’s birthday party because I did not know anyone there. I just dropped the gift off and ran back down the street to my house. And even though I took pains in my late teens and early twenties to become more outgoing and engage in a fair amount of public speaking, to the point that today I can stand up in a room full of strangers and speak with no more than the usual butterflies in my stomach that almost all public speakers get, I still prefer my own company or that of those close to me (which ain’t many, lol).

I like the quote from Susan Cain, in this article about introversion and extroversion from thoughtco.com, “We’re not anti-social; we’re differently social. I can’t live without my family and close friends, but I also crave solitude.”

However, come to think of it, I might actually BE anti-social, lol.

I’m really looking forward to the Andre The Giant documentary coming out in April from HBO. I grew up reading about him in wrestling magazines and watching the Eighth Wonder of the World perform in various wrestling promotions across the country until he landed in the WWE.

Those who never saw him in a wrestling ring will more than likely remember him as Fezzik in “The Princess Bride”.

This production is long overdue and should be fascinating as well as heartbreaking to fans.

Here’s the official trailer for the upcoming documentary.

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This Is Only A Test

I’m just testing the difficulty of posting from my iPad.

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Emotional Support Peacock…Grounded

Peacock on a baggage cart in airportSo, you may have heard about the lady who wanted to bring her emotional support peacock on board her United Airlines flight this past Sunday from Newark, NJ to Los Angeles, CA, only to have the airline deny Dexter (that’s the peacock) permission to board.

Emotional support animals have become a tricky thing of late, mostly because apparently greater and greater numbers of people have been abusing the status. It’s fairly easy to order a document and vest online for your dog or cat…maybe even your pot-bellied pig. And, it’s a touchy subject as well because most people get confused about emotional support animals and service animals, especially in regards to where they can go. This article helps lay out the differences.

Now me, I’m pretty much of an “Anybody can have any kind of emotional support animal that they want” kind of guy. If you’re not adversely affecting me, and in some cases even if you are, you should be free to have whatever animal you feel best with as your emotional support.

But, matters of safety are a different matter. If your emotional support animal is a crocodile, I might have issues with that while you’re around me in an environment that I cannot easily absent myself from, like an airplane.

Remember “Snakes on a Plane”??

But I like peacocks. I’ve taken some photos of beautiful peacocks in gardens and parks and zoos. Never had any attack me (knock on wood) or threaten me or peck me. Still, I don’t think a peacock could be stowed safely at the feet of its human passenger on a plane or not be a possible deterrent to people on that row safely evacuating.

So this was probably a good call on United’s part, even though I never fly that airline by choice.

Anyway, Dexter (who, by the way, has his own Instagram account) and his human ended up making a road trip of the situation and drove cross-country. I hope he gets to spread his gorgeous plumage in Los Angeles, even if he was grounded.

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“I Want To Hold Your Hand”

Fifty-four years ago today The Beatles had their first number one hit in the United States with “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and the British Invasion was underway.

The Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand" album coverI was 8 ½ years old at the time and since we didn’t have iTunes or Spotify in those Dark Ages, we had to settle for listening to AM radio stations and boy did this song get ample airtime on every rock n’ roll station in the Greater Miami area. In addition, every girl I knew, and some of the boys I knew, owned a copy of the 45 (no, that’s not a reference to the current President of the United States) record and I imagine quite a few stereo and record player needles were worn out from the constant playing of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” across the country.

Recorded in October 1963, “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, which was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, was released in the UK on November 29, 1963, and two weeks later it hit the number one spot in the UK Top 50 and remained there for 5 weeks. In the U.S. it entered the Billboard Top 100 on January 18, 1964, and on February 1, 1964, it hit the number one spot and stayed there for 7 weeks before being knocked out of that spot by the group’s second number one hit in the United States, “She Loves You”, which strangely enough was the first million-copy seller song The Beatles had released in the U.K.

Eight nights later, on February 9, 1964, The Beatles made their television debut in the U.S. on The Ed Sullivan Show. I wrote about that night in my house a few years ago, but here’s a video of their appearance.

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Ant-Man and The Wasp Trailer

The first Ant-Man movie was not a blockbuster production, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. So I’m looking forward to the sequel after seeing the new Ant-Man and The Wasp Trailer below.

With the Black Panther movie coming out next month, Avengers: Infinity War in May, and the Ant-Man and The Wasp movie in July, it’s looking like a fun 6 months of Marvel movies.

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Happy 88th Birthday, John Romita, Sr.

Wishing a happy 88th birthday of one of my all-time favorite comic book artists, John Romita, Sr.John Romita, Sr. holding up an Amazing Spider-Man comic book cover drawing

About 2 ½ years ago I explained why he is one of my favorite comic book artists in a post, “Mt. Rushmore of Comic Book Artists”, that pretty much lays out the place John Romita, Sr. holds in my memory and why.

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