Winnie the Pooh

Today is WINNIE THE POOH DAY! January 18th was established as a time to treasure Pooh Bear and all his friends as it was the birthday of his creator, A.A. Milne.

I never heard of Pooh as a child until 1968 when Disney's WINNIE THE POOH AND THE BLUSTERY DAY premiered with the feature THE HORSE IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT. I was nearly 10 years old and into action, gunplay and explosions in my entertainment but the Disney brand still carried some weight with me so I'd gone and I was absolutely delighted! The feature was rather forgetable but the short was amazing! It was lovely, leisurely, whimsical and perfectly voiced by a cast (the great Sterling Holloway as our hero) who would, for the most part, stick with the roles in movies and on TV until their deaths!

When my own son was born, I bought him the real thing (as opposed to the Disney version) but I can't help thinking I was buying it as much for myself as for him! He loved it, I loved it. If there's a child in all of us then that child will surely be a better person for knowing WINNIE THE POOH. Happy Pooh Day! Have some honey and then go out and make someone smile!

Durward Kirby

When I was a kid, it was a treat for me to be able to stay up late enough to watch CANDID CAMERA from time to time. Too young to recognize the inherent smarminess factor, I relished the stunts that Allen Funt and sidekick Durward Kirby shared with the audience each week. Little did I realize at the time that Kirby was, in fact, born in my own hometown. Last week, I noticed for the first time the historic marker seen here...just about four blocks from where I'm typing this even now!

Random Panels of Comic Book Weirdness # 47

Hey, Jay! Is that a helmet in your pants or are ya just glad ta see me? I mean seriously, he carries his helmet stuffed in his pants?? He's the Flash fergoshsakes! Why doesn't he just leave it at home and run and get it when he needs it? Wouldn't take a sec...literally. And man, I bet those wings could cause issues, y'know? OUCH!

Bye Bye Dial B

The pseudonymous Robby Reed of just about everybody's favorite comics blog, DIAL B FOR BLOG-- http://www.dialbforblog.com/ --is moving on to inevitably wonderful things and today finds the last new "issue" of DIAL B, this one offering a hilarious fictitious history of an obscure (but actual) DC comics character, the Morloo. Check it out, say your goodbyes, and if you're new to the site, plan on spending the next few days reading every damn thing ever posted on it! You'll even find booksteve cameos from time to time. Good luck, Robby...so long and thanks for all the fish.

Brittany Rose Update

Just a reminder that I continue to upload new pictures to my new photography website, BRITTANY ROSE AND ME. Just some cute pics of a very cute model, totally safe for work! Check her out at http://brittanyrosepictures.blogspot.com/ .

Snoopy and "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night"

Way back when I was a co-blogger on BUBBLEGUMFINK's original website, I did a piece on this book. When Fink did his first of several 'Net dropouts, he deleted all of the blog entries including mine. Published in the late 1970's, this was probably the strangest PEANUTS book of them all as, for the first and only time, it contained artwork by someone other than Charles Schulz! The story itself was the slight retelling of how Snoopy came to write his oh-so-cliched novel, IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT. Bound into the book, however, was Snoopy's book itself! It even had its own dust cover (art ostensibly by Lucy Van Pelt) and "About the author" on the back (both seen here!). Published in the overpriced for the time gift book format, it was not as big a hit as other PEANUTS giftie books but it has always been my personal favorite.

R.I.P. Ricardo Montalban

Not even halfway through January and we've lost a lot in the entertainment field already. The latest exit is Ricardo Montalban. I first noticed him in 1973's ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES as the compassionate circus owner who shields baby Milo. At that point, I had yet to see all of the classic STAR TREK episodes and thus had not been introduced to Khan. Suddenly, I saw Mr. Montalban everywhere on television, in commercials and in movies. By the time FANTASY ISLAND premiered in the late 1970's, I was very familiar with his mellifluous voice and classy demeanor and tuned in weekly not so much to see the guest star turns as to see him (and sidekick Herve'). In the early 1980's, he surprised me when he seemingly effortlessly walked away with STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, overacting rings around legendary scene-chewer William Shatner as Kirk. Although endlessly parodied ever since, it proved an unexpected showcase for the veteran actor's range. Montalban had, in fact, been around Hollywood for many years in mostly small roles. He was reported to have a severe back injury which he downplayed as much as possible. He was also an activist in Hispanic movements. In more recent years, in spite of being wheelchair-bound,he became familiar to children in a great role as the CGI fighting Grandfather in the underrated SPY KIDS 3 (seen above) as well as voicing the evil Senor Senor, Sr on Disney's KIM POSSIBLE series. If it weren't such lousy weather in parts of the country (including here) tonight, I'd suggest we all go outside at midnight and yell, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" at the moon in tribute. Sigh. Thank you, sir. We'll miss you.