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Waiting and Watching

The best comic book series I ever read was Watchmen. Now the movie of it is about to come out. I agree with everything that Boston Globe movie critic Ty Burr says about his own sense of anticipation.

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog/2009/02/the_watchmen_wa.html

I thought 300 was one of the worst movies I’d ever seen. I scanned through most of it on DVD. Something I’m worried about for a general audience is that a full appreciation of Watchmen requires a vast knowledge of the history of comic books and their creators. Everybody knows Batman, but almost nobody knows that Dr. Manhattan was adapted from Captain Atom, and Rorschach is based on the work of Steve Ditko.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

The Day the Muse-ic Died

Buddy Holly

Fifty years since the plane crash. Buddy Holly, one of the most important innovators in Rock music, sure did pack a lot into his short life, as did Ritchie Valens.

The Beatles covered Holly’s “Words of Love.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/FEB/WordsofLove.mp3]

Ritchie Valens was present at the birth of surf guitar, as heard in “Fast Freight.”

Ritchie Valens

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/FEB/FastFreight.mp3]

J.P. Richardson wrote “Running Bear,” which was recorded by Johnny Preston after The Big Bopper’s death.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/FEB/RunningBear.mp3]

Stemming the PD Tide

When George Bush took office in 2001 I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he started talking up a renewed missile defense program, and followed it up with a cut in federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. So even before 9/11 my negative view of him was cemented.

President Obama is moving quickly to undo the many misguided directives of his predecessor, including the ban on stem cell funding. Some time back I had posted these items about Michael J. Fox’s struggles with Parkinson’s Disease

http://www.dograt.com/2006/10/21/pd-is-not-pc/
http://www.dograt.com/2006/10/31/colbert-catches-up/

This week the PBS series Frontline is featuring a program about Parkinson’s Disease called “My father, My brother, and Me.” As one would expect, Michael J. Fox appears in the show, and in this extended interview you can see that he looks pretty good, but the long-term effects of his medication are in evidence. It was these sorts of mis-movements, called dyskinesias, that Rush Limbaugh — no stranger to the effects of drugs — in his ignorance ridiculed as being intentional on Fox’s part.

Happy Birthday, Monte Schulz!

Happy birthday to (paraphrase Stephen Colbert) friend of the blog, Monte Schulz. Has it been a year already? Aaugh!

On July 7, 2001, Monte accepted, on behalf of his late father, the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress. This picture shows Monte at the ceremony, with J. Dennis Hastert, then the Speaker of the House. Monte’s stepmother, Jean, is holding the medal.

Monte Schulz accepting Congressional Gold Medal

This, of course, is Monte’s father, Charles M. Schulz…

Charles Schulz at drawing board

… and this is the Peanuts comic strip that was published the day Monte turned twelve. The inscription seems to read, “For the Coroles.”

Peanuts, Feb 1 \'64Peanuts, Feb 1 \'64

Peanuts, Feb 1 \'64Peanuts, Feb 1 \'64

Letterman Hicks-up

It may surprise some people who know me that I’m not a huge fan of stand-up comedy. Lewis Black, for example, may have much to say that’s worth hearing, but his delivery grates on my nerves. Having a sense of outrage and/or being outrageous only go so far with me. Sketch comedy, and comic acting, are much more my thing. Stephen Colbert I consider to be a uniquely gifted comic actor with no equal.

With that bit as background, I was very impressed with what David Letterman did last night on behalf of the late comedian Bill Hicks. Since becoming a father and having coronary bypass surgery, Letterman’s turned into a real human being. The man is still wry and ironic, but he now displays humanity and sympathy to a degree that I don’t recall seeing in years past.

I’m not overly familiar with the work of Hicks, who died of pancreatic cancer in 1994, less than five months after what would have been his twelfth, and final, appearance on Letterman’s show. But I know his material was challenging and ahead of its time on hitting every controversial social topic there is. Letterman, not knowing Hicks was dying, cut the segment. Last night, Letterman apologized to Hicks’ mother, because his action had hurt her son in his final months, and he aired Hicks’ routine in full.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/JAN/LettermanHicks.flv 480 360]