April 2007 - Page 2 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

The Lydster, Part 37: Miss Independence

There was this old commercial for an OTC headache reliever in which a woman of a certain age is trying to assist her teenaged or adult daughter. The younger woman snaps, “Mother, please, I’D RATHER DO IT MYSELF!” (Anyone actually remember the name of the product? I’m thinking Anacin, Bufferin or Excedrin, but I’m not sure.) Anyway, the daughter, after taking the headache remedy, is happy, smiling, working together with Mom.

Now, what, pray tell, does any of this have to do with my lovely, sweet-tempered, cooperative daughter?

Well, I have become aware of the rhythm of the things that she can do herself – or thinks she can – and it is not always prudent to offer assistance at these times. She wants to pick out her clothes, and most of the time, she does, even if her mother would not have selected that particular pair of socks. The only time we try to change her mind is if the clothes might be too warm, or not warm enough – a difficult thing to gauge given that it’s below 30 and above 80 in the past week and a half. She can carry things I didn’t think she could, and successfully.

Yet, there are times, usually in the beginning of the day, when she’s not quite awake, or the end of the day, when the eyelids are drooping, when she wants to be carried downstairs or upstairs, and I try, we try to be sensitive to those nuances.

Lovin’ the little girl. Sorry, I’ve been corrected: BIG girl.
***
Sometimes, I think I’m the only proud father in the world, even though I know intellectually that’s not the case.

ROG

Roger’s Problem Is That He Has No Opinions

Hope you can read the item above about the cause of global warming.
***
I was sad to read that writer David Halberstam had died. Probably the only book of his I ever read in toto was 1972’s The Best and the Brightest, but it so informed me about VietNam that it was pivotal in my understanding of “wisdom” run amok. I’ve read large sections of The Powers That Be (1979), one thick book. But I have read, and enjoyed the essays on sports, which may have been excerpted from his many sports books, such as The Breaks of the Game, The Amateurs, and especially Summer of ’49, about the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry. Halberstam died in a car accident on the way to see Yelberton Abraham Tittle, the former New York Giants’ quarterback, for a book about “The Game”; a decade before the Super Bowl, the 1958 Colts-Giants Championship Game helped to “make” the NFL.
***
Most of the pieces about Boris Yeltsin were about his mixed legacy: “Russians pay respects to flawed hero Yeltsin”: Tributes to Yeltsin praised him for taking on and defeating the Soviet establishment, but also noted his shortcomings during his eight years as president – economic turmoil, a disastrous war against rebels in Chechnya and his drink-fuelled gaffes.” Somehow reminded me of an American President, Richard Nixon.
***
I was interested in personal international reactions to the Virginia Tech shootings. Here’s one from an expatriate in New Zealand, and, at my request, one from Great Britain/ Someone domestic noted, in response to a comment I made: “People see an Iraq bombing and think, ‘Gee that’s sad, but not unexpected.’ People expect bombing and mayhem in a war zone” but not on a peaceful college campus. OK, sure. But those lives lost are no less horrific to me because they’re “expected”. (And I suspect those families in Iraq are just as horrified by the loss of their loved ones, and don’t think it’s “sad, but expected.”)
***
I first heard about the Ken Burns’ exclusion of Hispanics in his upcoming WWII documentary from history professor GayProf. Since then, the situation has been rectified, with Burns’ support. While hailed as a victory in some circles, I’ve also read a lot of that “affirmative action/political correctness run amok” rhetoric. I was most struck by this particular passage in GP’s piece: “This time, Burns set out to chart the little-discussed Second World War. How often have I said, ‘If only somebody would stop and think about that forgotten war!'” In setting himself to be the end-all and be-all on this oft-mined area, I think Burns had a greater responsibly to paint the broadest tableau possible. Off topic: GP, what do you think about this article Commentary: The hypocrisy of repeating the ‘w-word’?
***
Here’s an editorial about Kitty Carlisle Hart, more than a panelist on a game show, but New York State’s grand doyenne of theatre.
***
And yet I have nothing pithy to say about the passing of music legend Don Ho?

ROG

Daredevil Omnibus

ADD wrote to me a couple weeks ago:
Hey Roger,
I have a question for you that I just posted to my blog
Let me know if you have any info at all.
Hope all is well!

As I may have mentioned, it was rather strange to see in the pages of the Daredevil Omnibus the pages from FantaCo’s Daredevil Chronicles, a magazine I worked on, though Mitch Cohn was the editor. The intrepid Alan David Doane asked me if Marvel had asked permission to appropriate pages directly from the FantaCo publication, and whether they paid the contributors.

The short answer, as far as I know, is no. The long answer is a little more complicated.

When FantaCo put together the X-Men Chronicles, a fanzine about the uncanny mutants edited by me, Marvel was very pleased. SO pleased that they gave us permission to use the Marvel Comics Group strip on the top of the page of the Fantastic Four Chronicles (cover by John Byrne, edited by me) and the Daredevil Chronicles (cover by Miller/Janson, edited by Mitch). In other words, they were licensed products of Marvel. Therefore, my guess is that Marvel believed they had a right to appropriate the DDC for the DD Omnibus, as it was their product, so there was no need to give permission.

Fred Hembeck tells me that Peter Sanderson, whose FantaCo interview of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson, appears in the book, was given a copy of the book, according to Sanderson’s Quick Stop column. Fred, whose illustration accompanies that interview, is still waiting for his copy. You’d have to ask John Byrne and George Perez whether their Daredevil drawings earned them a copy, or something more.

Incidentally, at least one “independent comics” publisher loathed the DDC, because of the emphasis on Miller and Janson, to the exclusion of the rest of the canon (Wally Wood, e g.). I won’t tell you who he is, but you know when the sun or moon temporarily disappears?

I asked Mitch about all of this. He wondered about the copyright issue too when I first mentioned the project to him. I agree with him that would depend on how the copyright was done, which he recalls was all FantaCo except for trademarks owned by Marvel. While he notes that Tom Skulan (the FantaCo owner) might have a case against Marvel, we both would think Marvel would have run it past their legal department before committing to do it. “It’s not like they needed that stuff in there,” Mitch opined.

You should know that the subsequent Avengers Chronicles, which Mitch edited, and the Spider-Man Chronicles, which was my baby, no longer had the Marvel Comic Group strip. That’s because of something that happened, a decision I made, that caused Marvel editor Jim Shooter to call with a profanity-laden tirade that poor Mitch got to hear. But that’s a story for another day.

ROG

Meme stolen (sorry, recycled) from somewhere

1. Four years ago — where were you?
Going to see Alison Krauss in concert with my wife. I was pretty convinced by that point that she would never become pregnant. Three months later, she did.

2. What bores you to tears?
Repetitive stuff such as collating groups of paper. assembly line work, which I’d done years ago. Tax preparation.

3. Do you have rhythm?
AND blues.

4. What do you dream about?
Nothing I aspire to.

5. What makes you tremble in fear?
War.

6. Tell us something you’ve destroyed.
The front lock on the door of my childhood, trying unassemble, then reassemble it.

7. Do you feel in control over your life?
I have a three-year old.

8. How are you feeling?
Tired.

9. When is the last time you went to the doctor?
Yeah, I’ll tell you about that sometime.

10. Ever broken a bone?
No.

11. Ever had surgery?
On my right knee.

12. When is the la st time you were in a hospital?
For myself? Car accident when I was 19.

13. Do like Daylight Savings Time, or should it be gotten rid of?
Sometimes.

14. Do you wear a wristwatch?
When I remember.

15. Analog or Digital?
Analog.

16. What’s your favorite game show to watch?
Besides JEOPARDY!? Not watching any currently.

17. What game show would you like to be on?
Pyramid.

18. Do you know anyone who has been on a game show?
Well, not personally.

19. What do you think the worst game show is?
As a GAME of skill, it has to be the Mandel show.

20. Bob Barker, Howie Mandel or Alex Trebek?
I always liked Bob Barker, going back to Truth or Consequences.

21. What do you try to stay away from?
Conflict.

22. Are you clumsy or graceful?
Yes.

23. What is it too late for?
My major league baseball career.

24. What/who was your first love?
Baseball cards.

25. What would you like to take back?
Certain things said.

26. American football: good times or couldn’t care less?
Probably the best TV sport.

27. Do you have a favorite sports team?
Varies, though I grew up a NY Giants fan.

28. What’s your favorite junk food?
Pizza.

29. What is your fondest memory?
Probably had some musical tie.

30. Does time always kill pain?
No.

31. Are you more likely to yell or give the silent treatment?
Silent, though I’ve gotten better at just saying it.

32. First kiss?
A girl named Mary, under mistletoe, when I was 13.

33. Underwater swimming or skydiving?
Mediocre swimmmer.

34. Careful as you cross the street or never look both ways?
Always looking, because the drivers aren’t.

35. What have you quit?
Organizations that take up too much time.

36. Are you complicated?
Am I?

37. Do you retaliate?
Generally not.
ROG

Earth Day Dichotomy

I think I finally figured it out.

I’ve been struggling to figure out why some people are willing to believe in the possibly of global warming, while others seem to be so staunchly from Missouri. And it isn’t just a left-right, liberal-conservative, Democratic-Republican thing, though it does have aspects of it.

Well, here’s the (cheeky) theory; it’s all dependent on how they view the legal system.

Let’s take group A, which I’ll call Red. Red wants to make sure we lock up all the people who need locking up (not necessarily including their friends). Red is dependent, though often bends, the rule of criminal law which requires evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Red has doubt, which Red finds reasonable. So, Red doesn’t seem to want to do anything until there’s total unanimity of opinion. Examples of this thinking: a recent Wall Street Journal op/ed piece, the current administration’s position that we can’t do anything until China does, the let’s sit on our hands position of the EPA that was vacated by the Supreme Court recently.

Then let’s take group B, which I’ll call Gray. Gray thinks we need sweeping changes, which can often be done with a class-action lawsuit. The rule of civil law requires that only a preponderence of evidence support the position, which is good enough for Gray. Thus, Gray finds the rising temperatures, stranded polar bears and hungry penguins, the increase in severe weather, the disappearing bees, the poor maple seasons to provide a preponderence of evidence of human-generated global warming. Well, maybe not the bees. A leading Republican on this side appeared on the cover of Newsweek recently; notably, he’s one of the few who isn’t running for President, because he’s ineligible.

Regardless, what I loved about this Earth Day/Month was the Step It Up protests all over the country last weekend. “We’re not going to join all together in a mass demonstration and waste all of that petrol!” they were saying. “Act locally.”

In New York, there’s conversation about expanding the bottle bill (five cent deposit on returned soda and beer cans and bottles) that was passed a couple decades ago, to water bottles, sports drinks, bottled iced tea and the like. I’m in favor. The growth of sports drinks and the like was not anticipated when the original law was passed.
ROG