Grandma Ross

In case you didn't see mention of this at Jason's blog, my grandmother passed away yesterday afternoon. I am still processing the emotion that comes along with losing family. Our family is small, and so while we rarely attend family funerals, each death is a reminder of just how few of us there are in my family and extended family.

The grandmother who passed was my father's mother, Katherine Ross (she had been remarried for a long, long time before I was born. Thus the different last name). The passing was of natural causes.

I hope you'll forgive me if I choose not to go into some lengthy post on the topic.

Also, I'll be leaving for Florida in a day or so to be gone for an as-yet-to-be-decided amount of time, so when the blog goes dark for a few days, bear with me.

If you have any grandparents still with you, do me a favor and let them know you care about them, okay?

A Moment for Baby

I am sorry to report that Randy and the Mysterious M's cat, Baby, has passed away.

If you've known Randy for a while, followed his various blogs, etc... you will know that Randy loves his cats the way we at League of Melbotis consider the pets to be members of the family.

Unfortunately, Baby had been dealt several ailments, and M and Randy had to say good-bye.

So, please take a moment today and visit Randy's post. And take a moment today to salute Baby.

Stan Winston, RIP

I didn't go to film school so I could make movies about people feeling things deeply. I wanted to work on movies with shiny metal robots, gruesome aliens, fearsome dinosaurs and maybe a gorilla or two. The only director/ producer I ever wanted to be was, maybe, the Coens.

But, really, I wanted to be one of five people.

1) Chuck Jones
2) Early career Walt Disney (as I've aged, I see the appeal of being late career, crazy, world-building Uncle Walt.)
3) Rick Baker
4) Stan Winston
5) and, upon occasion, early career Lucas

I don't think it will come to surprise you that I watched a lot of sci-fi and genre movies. And at the conclusion of those movies, I would see the words "Stan Winston" related to the picture in some way. And I think if you check out a lot of great movies, you're going to find Winston's name somewhere in an IMDB listing.

Terminator. Predator. Aliens. All came out of Stan Winston's shop. And a whole heck of a lot more. For me, being able to bring those things to life always seemed as interesting, if not more so, than a lot of the rest of the movie-making process. Even if the movie wasn't all that great, Winston and his shop's FX were always amazing (ex: Congo).

I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Winston has passed away. I am certain that Mr. Winston's contributions to cinema will never be forgotten. He, and his team, have simply changed the way movie special effects, make-up, etc... work and how the audience can relate to special effects as characters in their own right.

Winston was part of the generation who took their artistry to the next level, turning B-pictures into blockbusters, and who understood how to blend how to blend fantasy and reality seamlessly within the frame.

We'll miss you, Stan. May your workshop carry your vision forward.

RIP Tim Russert

Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press" died today while at work. It was completely unexpected. And, I'd say, a huge loss for modern journalism.

Guys like Russert aren't supposed to die early. They're supposed to be there every Sunday for decades, just like they were the week before. You expect to see them take a dignified retirement, only to pop up again as guest commentators during particularly monumental events when the journalist in their blood refuses to NOT be there to help cover the story. It was certainly what I expected for Tim Russert.

I really like Russert. I might not always have thought he was chasing the right path (like the Clintons after the impeachment. Man, he was nuts for that story), but not only did he get great guests (I mean, seriously... it was like people were afraid NOT to show up for Meet the Press), but Russert had crazy enthusiasm for his job. You could feel it every week, as well as whenever he showed up on another show. One got the feeling he didn't just love being a witness to the mix like so many political journalists, but Tim Russert was always happy to be the one to mix things up with anyone who showed up to talk with him.

I cannot imagine what NBC will do at this point. And, if I may, it seems unfair that a guy like Russert dies at 58 when he seemed to be moving at cruising speed.

We'll miss you at The League, Russert. We may have been spotty in how often we made a point of catching Meet the Press, but it seems inconceivable we'll be finishing the 2008 election without you. Let alone, entering into a new presidency without the staff having to come by your table to explain themselves and pay their dues.

MSNBC
Washington Post 1
Washington Post 2
Buffalo News


So long, Mr. Russert.

Will Elder, RIP

Apparently I missed whatever press this got, but cartoonist Will Elder passed away in May.

Will Elder was one of the original EC comics artists who helped launch MAD. He was also responsible for Playboy cartoon strip "Little Annie Fanny".

For a quick recap, we turn to Wikipedia.

But here's an actual obit that might do him a bit more justice.

I think its safe to say that without Elder, there would be no MAD Magazine. And without MAD, The League's youth would have been a lot less... well... The League's youth.

Thanks, Will.

So long, Harvey

Harvey Korman, 1927 - 2008

End of an Era: Dave's Long Box is put in the attic

Let me get this out of the way: I love Dave's Log Box.

Sometime in 2005/2006, JimD turned me onto the site, and it's consistently been one of the best comic blogs on the planet (nay... in the UNIVERSE), since its inception. Dave may have invented the idea of theme weeks for blogs, as near as I can tell. He brought the frenetic energy of fandom to the fore, celebrating both the good and the absurd in superhero comics with equal enthusiasm.

Blogging isn't a paying gig, Leaguers. So when folks discovered Dave's talents from the world of dollars and cents, he was able to parlay his blogging gig into a paying gig, writing for the Invincible Encyclopedia, a comic or so, and now writes for ABC.com. And for that, I salute him. We'd all of us bloggers probably have a secret wish that someone would put us on a payroll and give us medical and dental just for doing what we're already doing, and every once in a while, it actually works out for the best of the bloggers.

And Dave is one of the best.

Last Wednesday, I missed Dave's final post thanks to a few factors:
1) I check it once a week, because that's about how often Dave had been updating
2) Doug's malevolent presence

But he did leave a farewell post. I invite you to read his good-bye's. And not just because League of Melbotis gets a passing mention (In the privileged position between "the creators of Laser Force", and Bahlactus. Pretty solid company, if I say so, myself).

He's moving on to ABC.com full-time. And I wish him well.

There's a promised new blog coming, so I'll keep my eyes peeled. And you should, too.

I'll also be cleaning up my blogroll to include Dave's ABC work and the new site, whatever that might be.



Vaya con dios, Dave's Long Box.

Cheston Merges with the Infinite

Toll the bells, and come not to me with words of good cheer, Leaguers. Aye, turn your eyes neither toward Earth nor Heaven in joy, but let them hear your weeping and lamentations. So above, so below.

The great one is gone. He shall stride the world no more.

Ne'er again shall we see his like. His grace. His very Chestonness which made him the Cheston. He's been called home by the cosmos, too great for this wretched world, yet always making this orb greater by his presence.

Now gone. Gone forever.



I say adieu. And goodnight, sweet prince. The world shall be poorer without your light.

Charlton Heston has merged with the infinite.

The League is in mourning.

RIP Dave Stevens

I've just seen a report that Rocketeer creator, Dave Stevens, has passed after a long battle with leukemia.



Most people will know Stevens through the movie adaptation of his creation, The Rocketeer, rather than through his phenomenal artwork. Unfortunately, its been a while since The Rocketeer has seen print.

A few months ago I picked up The Rocketeer on DVD, and wondered why I didn't own any of the comics. I noticed Stevens' website didn't seem as if it was receiving maintenance. But it was a nice reminder of the quality of Stevens' good girl art and realistic, if romantic, style of rendering. Unfortunately, it provided no clues as to further printings of The Rocketeer, nor did it suggest anything about his Stevens' health. In short, I had assumed Stevens had moved on in the art world, and was not aware of any health issues.

It would be a nice move for Image or Darkhorse to ensure that Stevens' work saw print again in order to preserve his memory and legacy.

RIP Gary Gygax

At first I was merely horrified when Jason chose to out me as a former RPG'er. And, no, kids... RPG did not always mean "World of Warcraft". At one point, it meant cloistering yourself with neighborhood kids, a set of books, a pile of dice, and a Dungeon Master's screen.

Then I found out Gary Gygax died, and, you know... I would not have hesitated to tell Mr. Gygax all about my former RPGing, no matter what crowd I was in. And so today I salute Mr. Gygax and his creation, Dungeons & Dragons. And would tell him, thanks for making my life a bit richer. I salute you, and Zack the 25th Level Elven Thief (Chaotic Good) salutes you from whatever Avalon of forgotten RPG characters he sailed to long ago.

read Steanso's tribute here.

Dear Santa...

Every day, heading to and from work, I cross Ben White at South First. Usually on the way home, I would see Santa. Santa was a homeless guy with a white beard, who often wore a red hoodie pulled up over his head, even in the worst heat.

I mentioned him in passing once to Jason, because I was curious as to why he would do that in summertime. Jason knew who Santa was as his former employer was officed just a block away. Jason had heard that inappropriate clothing was a sign of mental illness. And many mentally ill people can find themselves on the street, this I know.

Every day when driving home, I'd look for Santa. He lived, I finally determined, under a blue tarp in front of Chuck E Cheese on the North East side of the Ben White/ S. First intersection. I think it was supported by a few shopping carts. He'd always be at a bus stop, or walking along the street. He never had the obligatory cardboard sign asking for a donation, and he never seemed much interested in either the cars or pedestrians.

As winter came down, I was a little worried for Santa. Even with all the coats, and the beard to keep him warm... you know?

A while back, when headed into work, I saw someone leaning down to Santa's makeshift home and talking to him. The person wore a plastic ID badge of some sort, and was dressed like a professional. I wondered what might be going on. I'd hoped that it was a homeless advocacy group checking up on him in winter.

Not so long ago, I saw Santa in a new hoodie, walking from the southside of S. First.

And then Santa was gone. It was a few days before I noticed I wasn't seeing him. And then I saw his shopping cart/ tarp home was no longer there. Just a patch of dead grass and some refuse to suggest he'd ever been there.

But every day, both coming and going from work, I'd look for Santa. But every day, I kind of suspected... You know he wasn't the healthiest looking guy. He lived near heavy traffic. Sometimes things happen. Maybe that lady wasn't there to help him as much as I hoped she was...

And then yesterday when I was driving in to work, there was this weird, ghostly image of Santa, sitting, waiting for the bus. It looked like him. Legs out, hood pulled down. But inside, he was a shadow. He was all in white, but inside... was nothing. Someone had made a sculpture of some sort of Santa. Someone else was looking for Santa, too.

The image of the empty hood bothered me. When I go to work, I e-mailed Jason. "Have you seen Santa? I haven't seen him in a while. I think he might be dead."

You don't make statues to homeless guys who've just moved on.

On the way home, I saw the statue was still there, sitting as Santa would in the weather, hood pulled down. But with no Santa inside. Instead, in his arms he held flowers. And people were there, paying respects.

And just like I did every day, I drove home, and I didn't think much about Santa once I was home. Until I woke up this morning, and that image came back to me. The white hoodie statue, with nothing to look back.

This evening Jason sent me this article.

Apparently I am not the only one who looked forward to seeing Santa twice a day as we headed up and back S. First on our way to work and home. Or who wondered what happened to the face we saw every day, but whose name we didn't know... so how are you going to look after him?

I don't know what's become of Santa/ Jerry. I hope the story has a happy ending. Most often, these kinds of stories don't.

It's odd that so many, myself included, felt some sense of confusion when Jerry disappeared. And I am not alone in the sense of loss when I saw the statue on the side of the road.

I am reminded of one morning, now several years ago, when stuck in traffic headed south on Lamar beneath the train tracks just before 5th street, I looked at the memorial painted on the support beam for the bridge, the same way I had, literally hundreds of times before.

"Fair Sailing, Tall Boy".

The words had been there as long as I could remember. Even when the bridge was repainted, the memorial graffiti found its way back to the bridge within a week.

Some days things mean more than on other days.

In time the statue of Jerry will be taken away. Or melt in the awful weather we've had the past few days. But I wish it wouldn't. It would be nice to know that the statue can be there for us all to remember Jerry for just a minute every day, just as we watched him with curiosity each day on our way to work. Just checking in to see what he was doing this morning. Or maybe this evening. And to remind ourselves that we maybe should have had more to say to Jerry before he was gone.

RIP Knievel

Jesus. They killed Evel.

When I was a kid Evel Knievel was past his heyday of jumping the Snake River Canyon, breaking hundreds of bones and generally making an American Hero out of himself.

It wasn't so much that I remember actually watching Knievel on TV. I don't think I ever did. But I was familiar with the jumpsuit (and occasional cape), and I was familiar with the man's deeds. Including the fact that the mad would occasionally do time. Tate, the kid down the street, had a Knievel motorcycle toy we relentlessly drove into his wall.

Later, I heard the jail time was for hitting his wife, which may or may not be true. I don't know. Facts about this kind of stuff were impossible to come by in 1981 or so. It was the same way we all thought Mikey from Life cereal had died from a spider bite or Pop Rocks or something.

But if one performed a stunt of any kind, be it jumping off the dresser or hopping your big wheel off a curb, at my house you were labeled Evel Knievel.

Knievel would do time and later more or less disappear from the public eye as he had no bones left to break. Robby Knievel would take his spot as a motorcycle jumping daredevil, and I hear most of Knievel Sr.'s records have been broken in the past thirty years. But Evel Knievel will be the one they remember.

I dunno.

He was sort of one of those mythological figures you build up in your head as a kid. Someone with steely determination and grit you wish you had. It's kind of sad when you begin to tie the notion that he lived his life recklessly to the fact that he was also living it selfishly.

Also, The Admiral's tendency to refer to folks like Knievel as "that idiot". The Admiral knows keeping your bones intact and not being in jail is where its at.

But even then you hold some grudging admiration for the man, maybe the same way you admire the boozy old singers who made up the Flatlanders. Clearly nobody was telling Knievel what to do, just like you couldn't tell those old cowboys. Not a surgeon, health insurance company nor gravity could convince Knievel not to jump over a GD canyon in a rocket cycle if that's what he was going to do. And, dammit, people would pay to see that, so there was something to it.

There's only so many lands left uncharted and unexplored, I suppose, and then they're all mapped. Then you find yourself figuring out what a man can do with high octane gas and some good shock absorbers.

To be clear, nobody killed Knievel. Perhaps Knievel's own lifestyle killed him, but he managed to squeeze a lot of living into those years.

He's been out of the public eye so long, its questionable if anyone will really miss him.

Surely that is not how Knievel saw himself going out, though. How many times did he sit on a ramp, wondering if he was going to wake up in a hotel room somewhere tomorrow, or maybe in a hospital room, or just not be around at all.

Pavarotti Merges with the Infinite

Pavarotti, the only opera singer anyone knows outside of Placido Domingo and Jessye Norman, has been recalled to the Pearly Gates.

I own, I think, two CD's featuring Opera. Maybe three...? I'm not exactly an opera buff, but if you were paying attention in the mid-90's, Pavarotti was 1/3rd responsible for a resurgence in interest in the artform.

Plus, he looks like Vultan from Flash Gordon, which is ,in all ways, awesome.

He was bigger than life, had a huge appetite for life, and seemed to have a terrific sense of humor. And he gave chubby guys like me hope that we'd find some talent in ourselves.

Why not pick up Pavarotti in Pagliacci (it's about, as I was once ridiculed for summarizing it, a sad clown).







So long, Pavarotti.

Mike Wieringo, RIP

The comic fan community was rocked today by the news that Mike Wieringo, age 44, has apparently died of a heart attack.

Wieringo's work has appeared for the last several years in DC and Marvel comics in titles such as Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Flash and many others.

Thanks to the DC title, "Impulse" and several issues of Adventures of Superman, I was familiar with Wieringo's work prior to his run on Fantastic Four (with Mark Waid writing), but that was when I grew to really appreciate his work. I loved his depiction of the the Richards clan, and his Von Doom.



You can read more here.

I'm really going to miss Wieringo's art and the spirit it brought to any title.

Thanks, Mike. You'll be missed.

Lady Bird Johnson

When I was a kid growing up in Austin, I recall it was a pretty big deal that Lady Bird Johnson still maintained an office in the LBJ Library. The rumor was that they couldn't build any structures higher than a story or two between her window at the library and the Capitol, lest anything obstruct her view. It wasn't that Lady Bird Johnson was supposed to be mean and bossy, but nobody really wanted to obstruct her view. I thought that must say something pretty nice about the lady.

At some point when I was 12 or 13 my folks were customers of The Bank of the Hills, which belonged to the Johnson family. I still recall my folks going to the opening of the new building out near 620 and 183 (when the area was a field) because they heard Lady Bird would be there shaking hands. Sure enough, my folks were just two of the rubes who Lady Bird shook hands with that night. I believe Lucy may have been there as well. I remember finding it mindblowing that she was involved with family business and would just meet any old person who wandered in to the bank that night. (I think i stayed home, watched an Arnie movie and ate fish sticks).

We have Lady Bird to thank in Austin for Town Lake Park, the LBJ Library, the control of billboard proliferation, the planting of wildflowers along the highway, and, of course, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. She was also involved with Austin's KTBC during its glory days. And, of course, she was also involved in her husband's campaigns in Texas and National races.

Finally, she was also a Journalism major at the University of Texas, and thus a fellow Longhorn. It is my understanding that she also was available as a guest speaker during the semesters in which Dr. Lewis Gould was teaching his "First Ladies" conference course for the History department. (Unfortunately, I found out about the course after it was no longer offered with Dr. Gould's retirement.)

Godspeed, Lady Bird Johnson.

Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson was hit by a car driven by Mary Dodgen on the night of July 3rd, 2006. Jason found out in the early hours of July the 4th and returned to Austin. He was not at the concert when Jeff was hit as he was visiting with Jamie and me at our parents' house in Spring. We were supposed to be coming into town to tell my folks we were moving back to Texas, but had let it slip beforehand.

Kim and Sigmund Bloom were also struck, as well as two other men. Jeff passed on July 10th, 2006.

There's an article in today's Statesman about the current status of the case.

It's been a long year for Mandy, Jeff's parents (Don and Jajuan), Kim, Sigmund, Jason and a whole lot of people in Austin.

Jeff occasionally commented on these pages. He maintained his own blog. He assisted with the briefly lived media blog "Nanostalgia", with which many a-Leaguer participated. I knew Jeff mostly through e-mail, online, and a few times we'd visited while I was in Austin.

I didn't know Jeff as well as most folks, but I know Jeff is missed profoundly by all.

Liz Pieper

Jamie and I wish to express our heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of Liz Pieper. Liz passed away this weekend after a long battle with cancer.

Liz was a good friend of my brother's, and a good friend to a great number of people. She will be missed.

You can read more atJason's site.

Multiple Things (Updated)

RIP Molly Ivins

Your voice will be sorely missed in the Lone Star State.



Boston Powerless before scourge of the Mooninites

It seems that electronic ads featuring the Mooninites were mistaken for bombs or something.

CNN story here.

Hilarity here.


can you see this? because I'm doing it as hard as I can

The devices displayed one of the "Mooninites," outer-space delinquents who make frequent appearances on the cartoon, greeting passersby with a raised middle finger. Nine were reported around Boston on Wednesday, sending police bomb squads scrambling and snarling traffic and mass transit in one of the largest U.S. cities.

Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll called Wednesday's incidents "a colossal waste of money." She had no immediate comment on whether any laws were broken but said police would investigate further.

Thanks to an erratic schedule and my love of anthropomorphic food, I'm more than a little familiar with Aqua Teen Hunger Force. So, perhaps the APD would do well to keep me on staff for just such an Aqua Teen-related emergency, or emergencies related to Space Ghost or Sea Lab 2021.

And now, an example of someone taking out their personal embarassment as rage:

Scaring an entire region, tying up the T and major roadways, and forcing first responders to spend 12 hours chasing down trinkets instead of terrorists is marketing run amok," Markey, a Democrat, said in a written statement. "It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt.

Curiously, not a single stoner, geek or insomniac felt threatened. Go figure.

Luckily, I am sure everyone will maintain a level head about this.

oh, wait... They've actually arrested someone in relation to the rogue electronic signs.

I am unclear WHY the Boston police thought the Mooninites were a threat (well, I am sure the Mooninites would like to believe they are a threat). These are pretty clearly signs. I do not stop and believe every metal box I see is a bomb, but I also have not been through terror-response training.

I am sure there's a lesson here that probably could be summed up with the fact that our nation has a color-coded terror threat scale.

It's good to know that we're all now one poorly placed sign away from being charged with terrorism.

And for those of you still living in a world where you do not know what a Mooninite is:




Action Comics Annual #10

I wasn't all that excited about DC's fill-in for February's Action Comics miss (this is after no new Action Comics in January OR February). But DC wisely put out a preview for the Annual, and it looks pretty cool.

It should be a good one for your pull list. The format of the comic follows the format of traditional "giant" Superman annuals and issues from years past, with all the different stories highlighted on the cover. (Also used in "Superman Family").


Comic Fodder

Apparently I was one of many who got bent out of shape about DC editor Eddie Berganza's DC Nation column last week.

Still, it got me some much needed traffic on Comic Fodder.

Since then I've done two days worth of DC reviews and a post on when weekly comics go wrong.

I don't think Jamie actually ever reads what I write on Comic Fodder. I saw her reading it, like, a week ago. But I think that's the first time she'd ever checked it out. It's probably good that way. I take what everyone else says as constructive criticism, but when Jamie offers me anything, I feel like I totally screwed up. I don't know what the difference is.

And it's also been a reminder that the interweb is a public place. Some guy out there refered to me as a "goon", even after agreeing with me. Apparently my prose style can use some work.


Mom and Dad, i heart you

Apparently my parents are concerned that I no longer call as often as I once did. A few factors:

1) I no longer have a 45 minute commute. I'm unemployed. I don't have a period in my day when I know I will be on the road listening to you or "Marketplace" on NPR. When I am on teh road, it's no longer a completely straight line as it was in AZ. Plus, driving and talking = dangerous.
2) I am actually busier here than in Arizona. I no longer spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday watching VH1's celeb-reality proigramming, hoping someone will call to break up the boredom. I now DVR the celeb-reality programming and watch it while you're at work.
3) You people are never home. Did you know that?
4) I am unemployed. I have very little to discuss aside from what Jason has usually already told you about. He was there for most of it.

So if I'm not on the phone all the time, I'm sorry. If I'm not here when you call, I may actually have left the house, unlike AZ.

It does not mean your younger son does not think the world of you.

Rorbert Anton Wilson merges with The Infinite

I read very little RAW. In fact, Illuminati! still sits unread upon my shelf.

I associate the name more with a time in my life and a culmination of tiny, tiny little events which led to...

It was a different time and, possibly, a different League (if I were to still buy the same things I bought back then). But I'm glad I read some of him, but somehow the day-to-day of these days has overwritten what it was I read, by and large.

I wonder if he'll get those answers now...?

News Bits

Lily Munster actress, Yvonne De Carlo dies at age 84.

One of my earliest memories is of our house in Canton, Michigan and sitting in front of the TV watching The Munsters. Like most kids, I was a big fan of Hermann and Grandpa Munster, but even then, I always thought Yvonne De Carlo brought a certain grace to the screen as Hermann's consummate straight man.

Also, I adored how Lily Munster was semi-obsessed with how "ugly" her niece Marian, the Donna Reed clone, appeared to be in her eyes.

Yvonne De Carlo also plays a supporting part in "McClintock" as John Wayne's friend and ranch house manager whom Maureen O'Hara believes to be Wayne's mistress.

So long, Lily Munster. You were one of the greatest TV moms of all time.


Jim sends in this bit about an episode of Naked City which just happens to feature a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 displayed at a news kiosk.

Amazing Fantasy #15 is, of course, the first comic to feature The Amazing Spider-Man. It's an eight page, story, I believe, in true Ditko style.