Tagged: White House

Maurice Sendak: 1928-2012

Maurice Sendak, author of the children's book,...

Maurice Sendak, the world-famous children’s author whose books included “Where The Wild Things Are“, “In the Night Kitchen,” “Outside Over There,” “The Sign on Rosie’s Door,” and “Higglety Pigglety Pop!”, passed away on Tuesday from complications caused by a stroke on Friday. He was 83.

Sendak wrote and illustrated more than 50 children’s books–including “Where the Wild Things Are,” his most famous, published in 1963.

The book–about a disobedient boy named Max who, after being sent to his room without supper, creates a surreal world inhabited by wild creatures–won Sendak the coveted Caldecott Medal, the equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize, in 1964. “Where The Wild Things Are” was adapted into a live-action film by Spike Jonze in 2009.

“Where The Wild Things Are” was not only revolutionary–but it was also wildly profitable, selling more than 17 million copies, according to Bloomberg.com.

via Maurice Sendak dead: ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ author was 83 | The Cutline – Yahoo! News.

Apparently, President Barack Obama made it something of a tradition to read from “Where The Wild Things Are” at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Here he is reading from the book in 2009:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kP6cDoIHRw[/youtube]

“I know every parent must be a little bit in mourning today and every child who grew up with that book,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. “It’s a sad day.”

Many people fondly remember the animated special from 1975, Really Rosie, and we’d like to present it here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Y3mWDkB6o[/youtube]

Our condolences to his friends and family.

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MINDY NEWELL: The Real Origin of “I… Vampire” And Other Bits And Pieces

MINDY NEWELL: The Real Origin of “I… Vampire” And Other Bits And Pieces

Just a quick little column this week, guys, just a collection of my thoughts. Some about comics, some not. Call it a walk into Mindy’s brain. And don’t forget to duck.

• Spent three hours today at the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles renewing my license. Last time I renewed it, I was in and out in 20 minutes. Why did it take so long? Two words: Walking Beachball.  (Actually I was going to say Fat Fuck, but I didn’t want to offend anybody.) That’s right, I’m talking about New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie. For a while at the DMV I occupied myself looking at the latest IKEA catalogue. Then I started talking to some of the nice people who work there. (Now that’s a job in hell! Compared to working at the DMV, Buffy’s stint at the Doublemeat Palace was being the Queen of England.) One of the first things Christie did when he took office was to cut the budget of the DMV, meaning layoffs and location closings and cutting the days and hours the DMV is open and absolutely no updates in computer software. I also talked to some of the nice people who were also waiting at the DMV. Apparently nobody voted for him. In fact, nobody I know voted for him. Even my friends who are Republicans. So how did the Walking Beachball become governor? I don’t know.

• I really hated Season 8 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Dark Horse by way of Joss Whedon). Hated. Loathed. I mean, I’m not a big fan of comic adaptations of television and movies to begin with, but this one really sucked. The artwork sucked. The story sucked. The ending sucked. And I put Season 9 on my list at my local comics shop. Fuck it. I’m a Buffy junkie.

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Doctor Who Series 6 Part 1

Doctor Who, under producer Steven Moffat, feels very different than that of the shows from Russell T. Davies. In some ways, it feels as if Moffat needs to top Davies so we go from the terrifying Weeping Angels to The Silence. And we go younger, with Matt Smith as Eleventh Doctor, the youngest yet. Everything old is new again, it seems, while a show once aimed strictly at kids is now being criticized for being too scary for the audience.

The new season, Series 6 of the reboot, is the first to be shown in halves, a marketing device that cable channels in the USA have been quite successful using, nabbing viewers during major network lull periods. It also provides a dramatic cliffhanger, which may be thrilling for viewers but no doubt causes headaches for the producers.

Speaking of commercial, BBC Video, distributed here through Warner Home Video, today releases Doctor Who Series 6 Part 1, collecting the seven episodes aired to date while we eagerly await part two this fall (with Part 2 and Complete Series 6 DVDs no doubt to come).

Moffat has introduced meta arcs and mini arcs that require a fair amount of attention and makes the series increasingly difficult to attract newcomers. Miss an episode and vital clues to the Big Picture are absent, potentially confusing the viewer the next time a story is watched.

At this point, the Doctor, along with Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), has settled into a comfortable relationship. The couple continues to act like newlyweds and the Doctor delights in having them around.  As a result, it’s business as usual with the opening two-parter “The Impossible Astronaut”/ “The Day of the Moon” which sets up the big threat, that of The Silence, referenced in previous seasons and made manifest here. They are an eerie addition, for sure, but what they want and how they’ll be defeated seem saved for the second half season. We also learn Amy is pregnant and the little girl, who manages to call President Nixon and ask for help, leads audiences to believe she is Amy’s child. The story opens with the Doctor being shot dead but we discover he’s a Doctor from 200 years into the future so the duo conceals this information only to fret about it in every subsequent episode. (more…)

‘Get Your War On’, 2001-2008

‘Get Your War On’, 2001-2008

The one of a kind series, Get Your War On, is done. Over. Finito. Full stop. Creator David Rees has decided to end the series with the exit of George W. Bush from the White House. If you have a problem with that, you can ask him yourself tonight– he’ll be appearing at PowerHouse Books, 37 Main Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn at 7:00 PM. If you can’t make it, just read this interview in the National Post.

Now let the healing begin.

Vic Sage returns in 2010, according to U.S. News & World Report

Vic Sage returns in 2010, according to U.S. News & World Report

  • News
  • December 27, 2008

We wouldn’t have expected to find out about it in U.S. News & World Report either, but lo and behold, a genuine headline from the future:

Obama Environmental Czar Resigns

By Vic Sage | May 1, 2010 | USNews.com

(Washington, D.C.) — White House environmental "czar" Carol Browner announced her resignation today, citing a desire to "spend more time with her family."

So there you have it. Thanks to dogged determination, a Christmas miracle, and presumably sales on the Question trade paperbacks from O’Neil, Cowan, and edited by some Gold guy, we’ll be seeing a return of Vic Sage in 2010.

Of course, if it doesn’t pan out, blame Dan DiDio as usual.

Stan Lee Receives National Medal of Arts Award

Stan Lee Receives National Medal of Arts Award

  • News
  • November 19, 2008

Stan Lee was honored at the White House when President George W. Bush bestowed the National Medal of Arts award.  He was among the nine recipients for this year’s award.

Here’s the complete write up:

Washington, D.C. — President George W. Bush today announced the recipients of the 2008 National Medal of Arts. Nine medals were presented by the President and Mrs. Laura Bush in an East Room ceremony at the White House. The National Medal of Arts is a White House initiative managed by the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA organizes and oversees the National Medal of Arts nomination process and notifies the artists of their selection to receive a medal, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.

"These individuals and organizations represent the variety and scope of great American art, from the traditional fine arts to popular culture,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "This lifetime honor recognizes their exceptional contributions to our national culture."

In a surprise announcement at the ceremony, President Bush announced the award of five Presidential Citizens Medals to NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Bruce Cole, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities Chair Adair Margo, and Anne-Imelda M. Radice and Robert S. Martin, the current and former directors of the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The official citation for Chairman Gioia states: "A distinguished poet and educator, Dana Gioia has helped strengthen the role of the arts in our country. He has advanced some of our most treasured traditions, expanded public support for the arts and arts education, and increased the understanding and appreciation of the arts among our nation’s youth. The United States honors Dana Gioia for his dedication to fostering creativity and expression and for helping preserve America’s rich artistic legacy."

The 2008 National Medal of Arts Recipients

Olivia de Havilland, actress, Paris, France
Fisk Jubilee Singers, choral ensemble, Nashville, TN
Ford’s Theatre Society, theater and museum, Washington, DC
Hank Jones, jazz musician, NEA Jazz Master (1989), New York, NY
Stan Lee, comic book writer, producer, Los Angeles, CA
José Limón Dance Foundation, modern dance company and institute, New York, NY
Jesús Moroles, sculptor, Rockport, TX
The Presser Foundation, music patron, Haverford, PA
The Sherman Brothers, songwriting team, Los Angeles, CA and London, England

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Dr. Phil and Me, by Dennis O’Neil

Dr. Phil and Me, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • September 30, 2008

After two 30 minute office visits and a little homework, we listened to the therapist tell us, matter-of-factly and unequivocally, that our relationship was somewhere south of hopeless, we had nothing for each other, the sooner we went back to being merely colleagues, the better for all concerned. I wasn’t surprised, and I don’t think she was either. But I guess I didn’t expect the final pronouncement to come so quickly and definitively.

The therapist was the late Dr. Albert Ellis, developer of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and boy! he didn’t believe in mincing words, nor, I’d say, in ignoring he obvious. I remembered him and this pretty inconsequential bit of autobiography when I was paging through a Book of the Month Club mailing the other day and found that BOMC was offering Real Life, by the gent who bylines himself Dr. Phil McGraw.

Soon after I stopped spending my weekdays in a Manhattan office building and became a lazy slug who could, and sometimes did, watch television at three in the afternoon, I sampled Dr. Phil’s daily offering on Channel 2 and was mildly impressed. Like Ellis, he seemed to be interested in solutions, said what he meant. And although “common sense” is overrated – common sense tells us that the world is flat – it does have its uses and Dr. Phil seemed to be using it well. The approaches of both McGraw, as exhibited in those early broadcasts, and Ellis remind me of Morita therapy, a Japanese treatment championed in this country by David Reynolds. Morita therapy says – my interpretation – that, look, we could talk for years and maybe never find out what damaged you, or when, and if we did, we might not be able to do a repair job. But we can deal with the ways the damage is making your life unmanageable, so let’s do that.

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Getting Catty, by Elayne Riggs

Getting Catty, by Elayne Riggs

  • News
  • September 3, 2008

Humans have been fascinated by felines both big and small since the beginnings of recorded history. At times we’ve both worshipped them (as did the ancient Egyptians) and reviled them (as did medieval Europeans, thus opening themselves up to the spread of the Black Plague when the witchcraft-associated kitties weren’t around in sufficient numbers to keep the rats at bay). And they’ve probably always been a big part of our mythology and folklore, including making multiple appearances in comics, from superheroes like Catman and Kitten to adult stuff like Fritz the Cat to funny animal and anthropomorphic fare.

But lately two big-cat names have infiltrated our culture to the extent that we’re all probably sick of them by now. I’m secretly hoping for Matt Groening to include them in his Forbidden Words list for 2009 so we never have to deal with them again, because they — like a number of other catty terms (such as, um, “catty”) — are used to impart negative attitudes towards women. And being one of those women-types, I tend not to like negative things directed at me simply because of my internal plumbing.

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Touchstones, by Elayne Riggs

Touchstones, by Elayne Riggs

Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby
Can you tell me where he’s gone
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill
With Abraham, Martin and John.

Well, last time I did an actual comic book review, and as expected it received almost no comments. So I don’t want to hear from anyone about how this column isn’t about comics!

I could probably make it about comics. After all, I’m going to be discussing the ’60s, which were about many things. Many people my age cut their fanboy and fangirl teeth on Marvel comics of the ’60s. (Me, I didn’t start reading until the mid-’80s or so, even though my late best friend Bill Marcinko tried pretty hard to get me interested in the Marvels of the late ’70s.) But, despite my trepidation about the kind of Google ads this column will attract, today I want to write about something else that happened in the ’60s, and about the persistence of memory.

Last week on the campaign trail, in an interview given to South Dakota’s Argus Leader, a frustrated Hillary Clinton reiterated her response to the "why won’t that bitch just quit?" crowd of media pundits that she’d initially articulated in a Time magazine interview back in March. Her original words: "I think people have short memories. Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn’t wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual."

This time around the phrasing was only slightly different: "My husband didn’t wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June. We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just don’t understand it," the "it" in question being the pundits’ incessant and unprecedented calls for a leading candidate to step aside (as if the media were orchestrating the process rather than the voters of each state). In March, nobody seemed to notice; this time, with the anti-Clinton hysteria ratcheted up as high as it’s been since the Whitewater nonsense, suddenly all sorts of folks were up in arms.

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Stranger Bedfellows, by John Ostrander

Stranger Bedfellows, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • February 21, 2008

 

Forget whether or not Barack Obama is “black enough.” The newest wrinkle in the Presidential Campaign That Never Ended is whether or not John McCain is “conservative enough.” Evidently, according to two of the biggest conservative blowhards on the air – Rush “Dr. Feelgood” Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, She-Wolf of the Neo-Cons – the answer is “no.”
 
Limbaugh has been on a rampage about McCain, tearing the presumed Republican nominee a new asshole almost daily over issues like immigration and McCain’s voting against tax-cuts. Rush jokingly says he would endorse Barack Obama over McCain as Obama was “a blank canvas upon which anyone can project their fantasies and desires.” (Why am I not amazed that Limbaugh finds a black man to be a “blank canvas?” And you’re going to project your “fantasies and desires” on him? Oh, Rush – how Mandingo of you! Heavens, I feel all flushed! I swear I may have to swoon!)
 
Coulter has gone so far as to declare, on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes, she would campaign for Hilary Clinton rather than support McCain. That, if it came down to Hilary Clinton or John McCain, she would vote for Hilary Clinton as being more truly conservative. And on her site, she continues to champion “her Hilary.”
 

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