Fifty eight years ago today, Peanuts began. The first strip has been reprinted a zillion times, so instead I’ll post the first anniversary strip, from October 2, 1951.
©UFS
Category: Cartooning
Mad Men merry-go-round
On DVD, Carol and I have finished watching the first season of Mad Men, the Emmy winner for best drama. Last week, on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a scene from Mad Men was featured, where ad man Don Draper pitches an idea to Kodak, suggesting another name for a new slide projector caddie, other than The Wheel.
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In response to a question from Terry Gross, the show’s creator, Matt Weiner, said the idea in the opening is that when Don Draper has a fall — and he has many — he manages to land safely and look good.
I never cared much for Robert Morse when he was young, but he’s excellent in Mad Men as the aging co-founder of the ad agency.
Baseball been berry, berry good…
Sometimes I just can’t keep up with the exciting doings of always-on-the-go D.F. Rogers, holder of two Boston Red Sox season tickets.
Well, in my 22nd season in my seats, I finally got a foul ball! Last night, at Fenway, versus Cleveland, 8th inning, Masterson on the mound, Ben Francisco pinch hitting. He hits a wicked foul line drive past third. It bounces off the wall that sticks into the field (near where the ball boy/girl sits), the ball goes up and into the stands. It bounces off several hands trying to catch it, it looks like it will bounce onto the field but the guy in front of me has it bounce off his hand and right into my outreached hand. I had about 90% of it and the guy next to me had a few fingers on it, but it was in my hand. No fight 🙂 Case closed — I had a foul ball! That’s the way the ball bounces. An inning later, Papelbon gets Martinez to hit a high pop-up to Cora — and the Sox clinch a playoff spot in a tight game!
I assume a ball hit by the Sox would be considered a better collectible…. ? Hey, wait a second. Admit it. This is you holding an apple at a pick-your-own farm, inserted onto a Fenway background.
The lure of grapes and ‘Peanuts’
A reporter for the L.A. Times went north of San Francisco to wine country, and stopped to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. I’ll get out there myself sometime with the family, but first Dennis and I will be making a return trip to NYC in November for the Big Apple Con aka: The National.
Johnny Comet chases Al Gore
This week, Stephen Colbert talked with GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. He touted the new Chevy Volt, a car that is mostly electric, with a backup gas engine.
This is so bizarre, considering GM’s EV-1, the subject of the outstanding documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?. Lutz still disputes the existence of global warming. Looking at this lunkhead, I can see why GM is destined for bankruptcy.
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But what about Al Gore, who won an Oscar by educating everybody about the threat of global warming? He’s been conspicuously absent of late. Well, to my surprise, it seems he’s taking an entirely different approach to alternative automotive fuel. By chance I’ve found evidence that he’s involved with the development of an atomic carburetor!
Schulz’s Schulz Library
Yesterday, I pointed out the Schulz Library that’s up in Vermont. But what about the books the man himself had in his studio? A sneaky visitor to the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California offers a glimpse, at this link. I wish he had provided a link to a larger, high-resolution image, but I recognize one title there that’s on my own bookshelf — Citizen Soldiers, by Stephen Ambrose.