Not Peter Pan’s Friend, Not the Song, Not the Square Burger

DC and Marvel weren’t the only comics I enjoyed reading and collecting as a kid. Dennis the Menace from Fawcett, the original publisher of Captain Marvel, was a favorite. Harvey had the Casper line of characters.

Harvey’s titles included Richie Rich and Wendy the Good Little Witch. If it’s possible to have a crush on a cartoon character, Wendy was my age-appropriate alternative to Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched.

Sid Jacobson was the editor and writer behind many if not most of those comic books. Thanks in part to a graphic novel he wrote about 9/11, Jacobson has an obituary in The New York Times.


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/06/arts/sid-jacobson-dead.html

Mark Evanier has these thoughts about Jacobson.

Sid Jacobson, R.I.P.

May She Rest in Peace

I refer you to the video “by Lia & Robbie” in this recent post.

He Goes “Ahhhhh….”

Robbie, out for the evening long ago.

We had this #3 hit in very heavy airplay rotation when I was working in radio.

I shouldn’t say this, but Olivia fell into the plastic surgery trap. Later in life, rather than being an older version of herself, Olivia was unrecognizable. She was perfect just as she was.

The Voice of American History

Popular historian and well-known narrator David McCullough has died. Having a reputation for fairness and honesty comparable to that of Walter Cronkite, how did McCullough view Trump? These comments are from 2017.

In the video Trump is heard saying, “People don’t ask that question. Why was there the Civil War?” That wasn’t a rhetorical question. Trump literally believed his perception as being the reality. Want another example? “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” What an unmitigated moron. An unbounded ego spewing the nonsense of a tiny, simple mind.

Musical Telescope

With the Webb Space Telescope now fully operational, albeit with some dings from micro-meteors, it’s a good time to hear, as well as to see, our solar system. Yesterday, the Boston Symphony Orchestra played Gustav Holst’s masterpiece in the summer heat of Tanglewood.

https://www.classicalwcrb.org/show/the-boston-symphony-orchestra/2022-06-13/a-journey-from-the-sea-to-the-planets-with-ades

My all-time favorite recording of The Planets suite is also by the BSO, as recorded over 50 years ago.

Classical Music’s Gateway Drug

Friends in High Places

Another reason for me to not regret ending my home delivery subscription to the print edition of The Boston Globe. This full-page ad was in Sunday’s paper.

The ad was paid for by Boston power player Arthur Winn, who is known for, among other things…

Boston developer Arthur Winn fined $100,000 for making illegal campaign contributions — But he’s spared jail time by federal judge
https://www.boston.com/uncategorized/noprimarytagmatch/2012/01/31/boston-developer-arthur-winn-fined-100000-for-making-illegal-campaign-contributions/

Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins quietly drops intimidation case against wealthy developer
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/05/08/suffolk-rachael-rollins-quietly-drops-intimidation-case-against-wealthy-developer/QIByPjU7C0R6tswPLb2PwM/story.html

In the first case, Winn had to pay a hundred grand. In the second case, he must have had one of these cards:

The subject of Winn’s ad is George Regan, a well-connected Boston name in public relations.

https://www.boston.com/culture/lifestyle/2022/08/02/george-regan-elizabeth-akeley-wedding-charlie-baker-robert-kraft/

I was disappointed to see the Globe’s Business Section team was in attendance.

“… a quartet of The Boston Globe staff: Business reporter Jon Chesto, and columnists Shirley Leung, Joan Vennochi, and Larry Edelman.”

It’s one thing to hold a lavish private event. It’s another to publicly flaunt the wealth and influence behind it. Especially with the MBTA Orange Line being shut down for an entire month, making life more difficult for people who don’t have have a lot of money, or friends in high places. You’d think somebody in public relations would have thought of that.

Triple Agent Action

Boris Karloff sure did appear in a lot of “B” movies. British Intelligence, from January 1940, is an engaging, fast-paced one-hour adaptation of a 1918 play. The story stays in the first world war, but was updated with an obvious anti-Hitler message, two years before America entered the war in Europe. The depiction of the Zeppelins flying over London is very effective.