When I mentioned the military draft earlier in the month, I may not have been very clear. Think of a large goldfish bowl with 365 or 366 balls with every date for the year represented. The first date for a particular year pulled would be the first selected for military service, the second date pulled the second selected, etc. There would be a cutoff number, based on the need for the war effort. Check out this article and then this one.
The food stamp President; note that Arthur had this BEFORE MoveOn.com helped propel it viral. He also remembers the first anniversary of the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake, the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s flight aboard Friendship 7, and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.
Rosa Parks Did Much More than Sit on a Bus
The Stories I Tell: “Like most of us I was raised to tell the truth and be honest. This can present a minor dilemma for resellers.”
How a mom used Star Wars to answer life’s questions
Marvel/Disney wages petty, vicious war against Ghost Rider creator. Yeah, there are two sides to this story, but Disney’s treatment of writer Gary Friedrich is still most unfortunate. Here’s a more nuanced piece that links to a donate to Gary site. Incidentally, in the comments to the former piece, someone was complaining that Friedrich was selling the art of Mike Ploog, penciler of Ghost Rider. I don’t know about the specifics of this case, but as former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter explained here and here, art pages, which previous to the 1970s were rarely returned at all by comic book companies, were distributed to various participants of the story; this included the writer, though they usually got last dibs. Shooter does explain Marvel’s likely point of view, and here’s a Marvel rebuttal.
I swear I had the same problem as Mitch O’Connell.
I read in Entertainment Weekly about this website that has the feature If 2012’s Oscar-nominated movie posters told the truth. This one riffing on The Help is funny, but so are several others.
I was saddened by the death of “Soul Train” host Don Cornelius of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. From the LA Times: “Don Cornelius’ legacy to music, especially black music, will be forever cemented in history,” said Clarence Avant, former chairman of Motown Records. “’Soul Train’ was the first and only television show to showcase and put a spotlight on black artists at a time when there were few African-Americans on television at all, and that was the great vision of Don.”
But I also remember tuning in when unlikely guests would show up, such as David Bowie performing Fame and Golden Years.
Read about comic book legend John Severin, who died at the age of 90, here and here and here.
The Wicker Muppet and A Muppet phenomenon and REALLY early Muppets.
The film trailer for “Under African Skies,” “the documentary from award-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger. Paul Simon travels back to South Africa 25 years after his first visit, chronicling the creation and lasting influence of his groundbreaking album, Graceland. Simon revisits the making of the record, surveying from the vantage of history the turbulence and controversy surrounding the album’s genesis.”
HOW TO mix a grody-looking Alien Brain Hemorrhage cocktail
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ROGER AT OTHER BLOGS
Interestingly, on most of these, I don’t get many comments. But I DO get an occasional LIKE on Facebook or retweet on Twitter, so it’s all good. Oh, and speaking of Facebook, I now have but one Facebook account. So if you want to “friend” me, it needs to be this account, the one with the duck logo.
Obviously, we’re still working on that “change the world” thing – also noting Graham Nash’s 70th birthday.
The GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! The GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!
Secrets of the public bathroom
Caring about Multiple Things Simultaneously, which is less about Whitney Houston, and more about people who think other folks shouldn’t care about Whitney Houston’s death
Alan Moore’s Twilight Proposal. Flashmob Fridays’ final outing.
Even a Megaphone Might Have Helped: Albany’s Black History Month bit
In the spirit of Woody Guthrie. Well, maybe funnier.
The City of Albany didn’t even know the sign was missing until someone – OK, I – pointed it out.
That note from Grammar cracks me up!! Hilarious, I love it!
when I as young in Borneo, we had many peace corps mainly as teachers, some had never taught. Mum said they were draft dodgers.
Lots of good stuff here today. I’m sure a couple of the links are going to show up on my fb wall!
Roger, went straight to the Rosa Parks article and commented at length there. Won’t repeat all of it here, but the whole “Rosa Parks just decided to sit down on the bus because she was tired” BS takes away from her crucial role and her planned civil disobedience as one of the first female members of the NAACP. Anyway, here’s a poem as well on the subject:
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2011/04/05/black-history-month/
Thanks so much for the cornucopia of info. And the Grammar letter is priceless! Amy