Look! We Had Snow!!!

Lookie, it's snow, folks! I know, I know, some of you back east are saying, "BIG DEAL!!" But, this is a big deal! In the 33+ years we have owned this house, this is the third time we've had snow, and this time it sat long enough to be photographed. This was about 7am on Saturday and it was gone about a 1/2 hour later. We're only at 900 feet up here.

The Oscars

So, I will watch the Oscar ceremony as usual, and as usual, will probably be frustrated and bored with it. No matter how much they retool it, it's still presented in the same old stilted way (meet and greet of who's wearing what, song, intro, nominees, award, speech, repeat 20x, awful song and dance number, best picture, goodnight). And also as usual, it's pretty predictable: "The King's Speech" will most certainly win Best Picture and I haven't even seen it. "The Social Network" is my choice, but it probably won't win.

Of course, I could be wrong, but so what? Does it really matter what wins in ANY year!?! Something like "Hall Pass" will never be nominated or even deserve to be, but there should be like a separate Oscars for real people. I guess that's the People's Choice Awards or the Razzies, but overall there are too many awards shows anyway, so it's probably just as well.

Anyway. They try to jazz it up with different hosts each year, but I still have a fondness for the 1994 David Letterman hosting year. NOBODY, but NOBODY liked that one, and even I cringed when he did the "Uma...Oprah" joke that wasn't. BUT...you have to admit, it did take some daring and there were a few chuckles from me that year. Apparently, that was too much for the old Hollywood guard, to look like buffoons on worldwide television, so after that they used "safe" comedians like Whoopi and Billy and others.

This year it's Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosting, just to kind of "rub it in" that the Academy Awards is STILL something really important and serious, and shouldn't be tampered with, so let's have two of our finest youthful thespians to host, right? Snore.

I wish I was there when the original Oscar ceremony in 1927 which lasted about five minutes to hand out the awards. That's my kind of ceremony!

Do I like anything about the Oscars? Yes! I like the part where they pay tribute to those who died during the year. If they put that much care into the rest of the telecast as they do that part, it would be a fantastic show.

Then they make a big deal before, during and after about who wore what, and honestly most of the gowns the women wear are usually downright shitty, showing way-too-much cleavage, when you might as well just go topless. (In fact, I'd think I'd prefer that. Why tease, just show it already! Oh, you have a nipple, too? How shocking!) Elegant gowns for women seem to have gone away 50 years ago. And guys, well guys wear tuxes. The end.

I know, I know, you'll probably say, "You wouldn't be saying all this if you were up for an Academy Award!" and you know, you're right. But I'm not, so I crab. And I'll watch.

234!

Yes, it's another blog readership record! Also, February has now been the highest readership month ever for my blog. Pretty amazing as February is also the shortest month of the year. Of course, that means March could beat it!

In any case, here's to 234 hits yesterday!

Sloppy Moe

It's one of the best and underrated Looney Tunes characters ever: Sloppy Moe. He's the one in "Injun Trouble" (1938), later remade in color as "Wagon Heels" (1945) who proclaims, "I know something I won't tell, I won't tell, I won't tell..." to the tune of "London Bridge".

Strangely, I prefer the remake of this Porky Pig cartoon as it has a more satisfying ending than the original, plus it's in color.

The Price is Right DVD

I love old game shows. I don't particularly care for the more recent ones, because they have too much of that "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" glitz that old game shows didn't have. Some folks think that the old ones are cheesy. Well, I like cheese.

In the past few years Game Show Network has shown some of these old goodies and some have been issued onto DVD. Unfortunately, I have been told that they haven't sold all that well, save for "The Match Game", which ironically I purchased when it came out.

I recently got "The Price is Right" DVD, which has been out for a few years and I love it! It's actually harder to play now, because you have to remember what prices were in 1972 compared to now if you're trying to play at home.

My only complaint about this set is that it has no shows from 1976 to the time right before Bob Barker's retirement. Strangely, they have left off Barker's debut show from 1972, and there are plenty of goodies from the boring Bill Cullen era, and none with Dennis James as host.

Then they have an entire disc devoted to Barker's final WEEK. I would have included just the final show and added more from the 80s and 90s. Maybe there's rights issues, but the more likely event is that a volume 2 probably was planned, but canceled due to low sales of the first one.

Other game shows I have yet to buy, but plan to are "Password" and "Family Feud".

At Last! Sugar & Spike Archives

About flippin' time! Now this is an archive that I want. Pooey on superheroes. "Sugar & Spike" were the real heroes for me and finally this September, DC is going to devote an archive to them. I will be first in line to buy.

The cover pictured above is just a mock-up, but hopefully the real cover will be just as good...

Yay! My Websites are Back Up!

Due to some weird glitch, my websites had been down for the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, daddy came home from India and saved the day! For those who don't know, these are the sites: Fun Ideas Productions and Harvey Comics. Take a look!!!

San Francisco Giants Trophy

Here is a picture I took of Palo Alto Mayor Sid Espinosa peering over the San Francisco Giants trophy on February 14 in downtown Palo Alto, when the trophy was making its rounds on the Peninsula recently. It's all to gear up for the World Champion Giants season opener this April. Just figured I'd share. One of the perks of working for a newspaper.

It's My New Car

Woo-hoo! I finally got my hands on my new (used) car. It's a 2007 Saturn and I'm loving it. I don't know what I'm doing yet with my 1993 Camry, but it's probably headed for donation, unless someone wants it. I'll sell it cheap. $500 and it's yours (for the Camry that is, not the Saturn). Still runs.

Anyway, here's my new car!!! (parked outside my house)

Traffic

You know what I enjoy? Going to the library and check out CD's. Since the nature of my 9-5 job is driving around to customers, I spend a lot of time in the car and so that means I spend a lot of time playing music. Even though I love listening to my Beatles and other stuff in my collection, I've recently taken to checking out albums that I've heard about, but never have heard before. One of these groups is Traffic.

I got their greatest hits collection, and thought that the only tune I knew by them was "Dear Mr. Fantasy". Turns out, I knew most of the tunes, and some of them really surprised me which is what I love about listening to these things. There's a song called "Glad", which is an instrumental that I've heard zillions of times, but I had no idea it was Traffic. I thought it was some long lost Frank Zappa composition because it has that same feel as his "Peaches En Regalia".

Amazingly, both tunes were released in 1970, but I doubt one knew about the others compositional styles. Both don't sound like their respective artists typical work, but they both are great tunes. So, do me a favor and check Traffic out, and you might as well go for Steve Winwood solo and Blind Faith as well.

The Far Side Again!

I always toot my horn when my readership goes up. The peak day is still 222. Strangely, a lot of people tend to search for "The Far Side".

Now I wrote about "The Far Side" comic strip before and how it amazes me its popularity long after its demise and that apart from calendars and a few other goodies, Gary Larson doesn't seem to want to capitalize off of it much anymore.

But I will! If it gets my readership up. Here's another classic I found elsewhere on the Internet...

What a sell-out I am...

Busy, busy, busy

You might have noticed I haven't been posting a lot lately. Well, everything came to a head all at once and I barely have time to breath.

So, right now I'm doing the final edits and the index for the "Cracked" books, I'm doing the final proofing for the "Beatles" book, I'm finishing my taxes, I got my new car, I had a small cold, I'm working 9-5, I'm trying to arrange stuff for the Archie Art Show, I'm trying to arrange a "Cracked" Art Show, I'm working on a Harvey documentary, I finished up writing and editing my "Scooby-Doo" article and am now looking for good images for the article, and more that are in the pre-natal stages.

I'm not complaining, but it does mean I don't have much of a social life as of late outside of my 9-5 work.

I may finally live up to the name "Busy" Arnold. Up until now, it's been "Lazy" Arnold.

Boy This Stuff is No Longer Politically Correct...

..but I love it anyway. Can you imagine anyone putting out a comic book cover today with us steamrollering over the Al-Qaeda and shooting them at the same time? It's a nasty, but real depiction of our illustrious past...

Ronald Reagan

I've become fascinated with the life of Ronald Reagan, partially because it would have been his 100th birthday this year. It's not for the reasons you might think. I have become interested in reevaluating his movie career and am interested in discovering all of the things Reagan did as head of the Screen Actors Guild among other things.

I recently purchased a graphic novel version of his life by Andrew Hefler, Steve Buccellato and Joe Staton and it talks about all the things Reagan did, both good and bad, and very straightforward.

Some may say, "Why bother?" I don't know. I always have a fascination with reading about various people, even if I didn't care for them personally. I've read biographics of Adolph Hitler and even "Mein Kampf", so I just like to know things.

I'm certainly not comparing Reagan to Hitler, but Reagan was certainly no angel and had numerous flaws, yet surprisingly, he is still one of our most popular Presidents of all time.

P.S. I'd love to find a copy of the album pictured above...

Economics

I just heard on the news today that gas, food, clothing and other essentials are going up.

Figures.

You know, I don't know how anyone could really be an economics major.

Let me explain.

The basics behind economics is supply vs. demand. Problem is, that greed is never figured into the equation. There is no reason that a CEO of a company should be making 10x or 100x or 1000x what their workers make. A modest salary higher than the workers is acceptable, but I am sick of hearing about these top-level CEO's making zillions of dollars and then they screw up and get fired and get larger payouts than I will probably make in my lifetime to leave.

I would like to have that severance package.

How does that figure into inflation? Well, duh, SOMEONE has to pay for these nincompoops.

Some CEO's make millions per year and lay off or reduce salaries of their workers. Many times workers are at minimum wage, which is below poverty level, but if minimum wage laws didn't exist, they'd pay people even lower. Sometimes they do anyway, by making excuses like training wages, tips or internships.

In any case, the real reason prices go up is that everyone's tired of being in this recession/depression stuff and they figure that this is the only way to get a raise.

Sucks.

INSTEAD, why don't people lower costs and thus, that would encourage spending and to pay for it, lower the salaries of these top CEO's.

Well, I can dream, can't I?

Black History Month

Have you ever wondered why Black History Month is during the shortest month of the year? I always figured that it was because African-Americans were once again getting the short shrift...

A friend of mine pointed out to me why it is in February, and you can read about it here:

"As for the "shortest month of the year" thing:

According to http://www.facebook.com/l/8e76d;Biography.com, "Every February, Americans celebrate Black History Month. This tribute dates back to 1926 and is credited to a Harvard scholar named Carter G. Woodson. The son of former slaves, Woodson dedicated his life to ensuring that black history was accurately documented and disseminated.

"In an effort to bring national attention to the contributions of black Americans, Woodson organized the first annual Negro History Week in 1926. He chose the second week of February in honor of the birthdays of pivotal black supporters Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln."

Source URL: http://www.facebook.com/l/8e76d;www.biography.com/blackhistory/"

They should have moved it to August. It's a longer month and the month of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech...

BTW, I still think they should move Martin Luther King Day to August for this very reason and then more people might be able to celebrate it with paid time off since there's nothing else going on in August anyway. January 15 is just too close to New Year's Day...

Ok, off of soapbox...

Sugar Ad

So, I was re-reading one of my favorite "Look" magazine issues, the April 6, 1971 issue featuring a sneak preview of Walt Disney World and I came across this ad saying how great sugar is and it's good to eat to give you energy and curb your appetite. I'm sure I've read it before, but didn't pay much attention to it, until now.

What's amazing to me is that in my lifetime (44 years), how many things that were considered good for you are now considered bad for you. If an ad like this appeared today, everyone would clamp down on it and scream about obesity and diabetes.

Today, everyone is so anti-sugar. Cereals I used to eat were "Super Sugar Crisp", "Sugar Smacks", "Sugar Frosted Flakes", "Sugar Pops", etc. Now, I eat "Super Golden Crisp", "Smacks", "Frosted Flakes" and "Pops", plus "Honey Nut Cheerios"...no mention of sugar anywhere. It's now a bad word. But, artificial sweeteners aren't much better, as my own newspaper, the "Daily Post" just reported on a link to them and strokes.

Another thing, the ad says, "Enjoy an ice cream cone shortly before lunch." Nowadays, with some diet plans, the ad would probably say, "Enjoy an ice cream cone AS lunch."

We are so whacked out about what's healthy or unhealthy to eat. Comedian Lewis Black does a bit where he shouts about that in his lifetime eggs being good for you, then bad for you, then just the whites, etc.

In Woody Allen's "Sleeper" (1973), Allen is resuscitated in the year 2073 and offered a cigarette by the doctor shortly after revival. Allen's refuses it and the doctor says, "Why? It's the healthiest thing for your body." (One of the best lines of the movie.) Frank Zappa would agree. To him, cigarettes were considered food.

There are people who argue that being a vegetarian is the best way to be and then we've had contaminated produce that have made people sick or even killed people. Others say that eating meat is great because of the protein and you can't get that type from tofu or nuts, so who knows?

We never know. And what we do know will probably change in the next 10 years or so. As a result, I tend to eat everything, but I don't smoke, although I used to smoke pot. For me, I don't smoke, not because of health issues, but because of the cost and the smell, although I did smoke tobacco hookah in the past year. That was fun.

Overall, I think the key to life is MODERATION, and what's good for me may not be good for you, and vice-verse, since we're all different, with different body types, ethnicities, backgrounds, etc. And, while you are here, you should have a good time and regardless of what you do, you'll die anyway, so make the most of it.

I wonder what happened to this ad campaign....

222!

Viewers of my blog yesterday. Thank you very much!

Google Doodles

You know, the people at Google have WAY TOO MUCH TIME on their hands. Today's logo features a salute to Thomas Edison. A few days ago, it was Jules Verne with a little working sub lever.

They've done many, many others, too. My favorite being the Pac-Man one that actually was a working game.

Here are some samples.

216!

I'd like to thank the Academy for 216 blog viewers yesterday. Ok, I am getting a bit silly with this, but you know I ONLY post the number when it exceeds the previous peak number, which was 202, so here goes...

Last Call for Beatles Artwork

It's the last call for Beatles artwork for my book called "Mark Arnold Picks on The Beatles". Anyone who submits artwork that is used in the book will receive a free copy of the book when it is published.

It looks like I will be publishing it in March, so you have until the end of February to get something to me. Please send it via www.yousendit.com because I expect them to be large files.

I am looking for early Beatles and post-breakup Beatles because I have quite a few Sgt. Pepper/Yellow Sub era Beatles. I won't reject you if you do one from that era, however...

Cover is by Bill Morrison ("Simpsons Comics").

More TV Shows NOT on DVD

What's more annoying than TV series not on DVD? TV series that start on DVD and never complete their run. They are usually not completed due to low sales, but it's still frustrating. I'm still looking for Seasons 3-7 of "Petticoat Junction", 3-6 of "Green Acres" and 5-6 of "The Bob Newhart Show" among others.

Other series that have stopped mid-stream include "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley". Fortunately, I am in contact with someone from Shout Factory, so there may be hope. They've taken on the runs of "All in the Family" and "Leave it to Beaver" when other labels pooped out.

Hoo-ray! "Rocky and Bullwinkle" Season 5

At last, "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Season 5" is here! Well, it will be on March 29. I was worried because there were rumors that Season 5 either would not be released at all or released as a separate season (It is currently available as part of "The Complete Bull" DVD box set). Now I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Season 5 is the final season of "The Bullwinkle Show" from 1963-1964. Jay Ward went on to create "Hoppity Hooper". This season features such classics as "Pottsylvania Creeper" and "Wossamotta U. and of course, the final episodes featuring "Moosylvania Saved".

My only complaints about this series is that they don't have all the original music elements and are missing some classic goodies like Bullwinkle high-kicking it on the stage, which should have been part of Seasons 3, 4 and 5. I'll live, but it's a shame that Classic Media doesn't put the care and attention to find and add these little items even as bonus material.

Superbowl Thoughts

So today is Superbowl XLV.

I am so bad, but it's because I always march to a different drummer. I have watched the Superbowl before, but many times I use the opportunity to go to restaurants that are usually crowded. I did that once when I lived in San Francisco and the 49ers were in the game!

One year I went to Walt Disney World on Superbowl Sunday. It was dead, dead, dead! Which was great, because my ex-wife and I got to get on all the rides over and over and over again!

I have even enjoyed the Superbowl before, but if I have other things to do, I do them. Who knows if I'll see today's. I really want to see the Black Eyed Peas perform, but hey, YouTube is one of the greatest inventions ever!

So, to those Superbowl loyalists, I wish you the best of fun and hope that YOUR team wins.

Peanuts Specials

I am a big fan of the "Peanuts" specials, especially the first 15 of them. Strangely, the first 15 are the ones that feature those great Vince Guaraldi scores. Guaraldi passed away at the young age of 46 in 1976.

Even more bizarrely, the quality of the specials seemed to go way down after Guaraldi's death, and not because of the music. "Peanuts" in general after the mid-70s started to take a downward turn from being somewhat biting and sophisticated to becoming too cutesy-poo and childish. They also ran out of good holidays to promote...Arbor Day, sheesh!

The TV specials and even the theatrical movies all followed suit.

Fortunately, all of the good "Peanuts" TV specials are available on three collections ("The 60s", "The 70s, Vol. 1" and "The 70s, Vol. 2")

Here are the good ones in my opinion:

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
2. Charlie Brown's All-Stars (1966)
3. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
4. You're in Love, Charlie Brown (1967)
5. He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968)
6. It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969)
7. Play it Again, Charlie Brown (1971)
8. You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972)
9. There's No Time For Love, Charlie Brown (1973)
10. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
11. It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974)
12. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)
13. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975)
14. You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975)
15. It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976)

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Ok, since I mentioned my favorite network TV show, I will now mention my favorite cable show. This is a bit trickier because people are always recommending shows to me like "Dexter" and "Weeds" and "Six Feet Under" and you name it.

Remember folks, I don't have cable TV or a high-speed connection, so the only way I can see a lot of this stuff is on DVD. That's how I've seen virtually all of the episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".

Granted, now "Curb" is in syndication, albeit with a lot of cuts. Susie Essman's character is not the same in a censored version.

Anyway, this is Larry David's creation and is basically a more personalized version of his own "Seinfeld". In fact, last season was a dream of Larry trying to get the "Seinfeld" cast back together for a reunion, making it the best reunion since Suzanne Pleshette popped up in Bob Newhart's bed on the final episode of "Newhart".

They are now preparing the eighth season and I will have my DVD player ready and waiting once they release the discs.

202!

Whoo!!

The Big Bang Theory

"The Big Bang Theory" is my favorite TV show currently on TV. Remember, I DON'T have cable so none of that counts. This is really old school here, where I only consider what's on the originally three (ok four) networks as REAL TV.

Most of what's on REAL TV is crap. Mainly reality shows and stupid singing and dancing competitions. When it comes to writing actual CONTENT for REAL TV, them pickin's is sparse, nowadays.

Usually it's stupid sitcoms with no jokes or stupid action or drama shows that don't have enough material for a half hour, much less an hour.

Yeah, yeah I know. Some of your favorites are these shows. Who cares...

So, I like "The Big Bang Theory", but not for the reasons you think. You think it is because it is about comic book nerds. The real reason is because it is funny, pure and simple.

Case in point, watch "Shit My Dad Says" afterwards and you'll see the difference. "Big Bang" is funny; "Shit" is not. Even with Shit..er, Shatner...

Stanford Theatre

I am so glad we have the Stanford Theatre. Look at this! These are the types of movies I get to see ALL THE TIME! A double-feature is only seven bucks! If you ever are in the Palo Alto area, this is a MUST!!!