Great North Wood Barks

Last week’s installment of ‘Tim Rice’s American Pie‘ on BBC Radio 2, the second in the series, was about Oregon. I was surprised to hear Rice mention the cartoonist Carl Barks.

[audio:http://dogratcom.s3.amazonaws.com/Audio/2011/Jan/RiceBarks.mp3|titles=Tim Rice’s American Pie: Salute to Oregon]

Here is a Barks story I posted over two years ago. It was the first one by him I ever read, which didn’t happen until I was fifteen.

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #126, 1951

© Disney
Barks died in 2000, the same year that Charles Schulz passed away, but Barks was 99 — old enough to be Sparky’s father! Here’s a nice video about the late, beloved Old Duck Man.

Apple says, “Don’t Think Different”

Back in February, I pointed out a controversy caused by a political cartoon from December, by Mark Fiore, who has won the Pulitzer Prize. And he’s the first to do it with animated cartoons.

But before this good news, it turns out that December was a doubly troublesome month for Fiore, because that was when his iPhone app was rejected by Apple Computer. Why? Because it “ridicules public figures.”

Follow-up: Fiore submitted his app again, and this time it was accepted, but the decision had to come from Steve Jobs.

Iron Man 2’s in the can

The Iron Man 2 blitz is on, and Dr. Pepper has a fun commercial tie-in. Hey, there’s shameless Stan Lee, making one of his cameos. Note: the first appearance of Iron Man (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963) was scripted by Stan’s brother, Larry Lieber.

P.S. Disney has this ultra-cute 4 GB Iron Man USB flash drive (I discourage use of the terms “jump” or “thumb” drive).

This name, this curse

Oh, wait! Before I go, I wanted to post these panels from Sunday’s comic strip, ‘Cul De Sac’, by Richard Thompson, who points out one of the negative connotations for my surname.


Perhaps my ancestors were encouraged to leave England by way taunting…?

BTW, Richard Thompson was diagnosed last year with Parkinson’s Disease. From what I know of the illness, he has many good years ahead of him.

Turning Japanese

Some years back, Panasonic had an ISP business in Japan called hi-ho. They had a series of bizarre, addictive, animated commercials that Eric and I enjoyed watching. I remember Eric wasn’t even a teenager yet, so it had to have been a while ago. This one has a winter theme.

[MEDIA=77]

Eric liked this one…

[MEDIA=79]

…and this was my favorite.

[MEDIA=78]

Tech note: these are the first videos I have made using CamStudio.