100 Books I Have Actually Read

1. The Lord of the Flies
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
3. The Covenant of the Crown
4. The Andromeda Strain
5. The Theory of Poker
6. The Graduate
7. The Federalist Papers
8. Blind Ambition
9. The Ten Cent Plague
10. Seal of Approval
11. Supergods
12. The Selling of the President
13. The Hobbit
14. The Lord of the Rings
15. The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby
16. Starfarers
17. The Stand
18. The Shining 
19. Pet Semetary 
20. Hotel
21. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
22. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
23. Cruel Shoes
24. Pure Drivel
25. FUCK: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties
26. Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics
27. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
28. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
29. Amusing Ourselves To Death
30. Understanding Media
31. The Influencing Machine
32. Einstein's Dreams
33. I'm OK; You're OK
34. Tales of the City
35. Maybe the Moon
36. The God Delusion
37. The Last Temptation of Christ
38. Maus
39. Watchmen
40. Superman: Last Son of Krypton
41. A Christmas Carol
42. Dune 
43. Destination: Void
44. The Outsiders
45. A Complete History of American Comic Books
46. The Face Is Familiar
47. St. George and the Godfather
48. The Foundation Trilogy
49. The Caves of Steel
50. The Naked Sun
51. The End of Eternity
52. Robot Dreams
53. Robot Visions
54. Tales of the Black Widowers
55. Inside the Atom
56. Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective
57. Marvel Comics: The Untold Story
58. The Innocence of Father Brown
59. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
60. A Study In Scarlet
61. The Hound of the Baskervilles
62. Ten Little Indians
63. 1984
64. Animal Farm
65. All The President's Men
66. The Final Days
67. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
68. The Boys On The Bus
69. Without Feathers
70. Side Effects
71. The Catcher In The Rye
72. The Hotel New Hampshire
73. The World According To Garp
74. The Cider House Rules
75. A Prayer for Owen Meany
76. In One Person
77. Slaughterhouse Five
78. Cat's Cradle
79. Welcome to the Monkey House
80. Roots
81. Assassination Vacation
82. The Wordy Shipmates
83. On The Road
84. 2001: A Space Odyssey
85. Fahrenheit 451
86. MASH
87. The Once and Future King
88. Atlas Shrugged
89. Grant Morrison and the Super Hero Renaissance
90. Shout: The Beatles In Their Generation
91. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
92. The Wizard of Oz
93. The Yearling
94. The Metaphysics of Star Trek
95. Hell's Angels
96. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
97. Fear and Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72
98. The Great Shark Hunt
99. Kingdom of Fear
100. Nixon and Kissinger: Partners In Power
101. 
     

Prez's Half-Brother Arrested in Kenya

It's getting to be a tradition with Democratic presidents: The embarrassing brother--who is usually an addict of some sort. Jimmy Carter had the hard drinking Billy, Bill Clinton had cocaine addled Roger, and now Barack Obama has George. According to a report CNN.com, the president's half-brother currently sits in a Nairobi jail on charges of marijuana possession and resisting arrest.
Between the economic crisis and this, it seems that people named George have been nothing but trouble for our new prez.

The Leaders We Deserve

Apparently, the Senate majority leader is an idiot.
Harry Reid was on Meet The Press this morning making an ass of himself by displaying for the entire nation to hear his utter lack of command of the English language as he contended repeatedly that his objections to the appointment of Roland Burris to the fill Barack Obama's seat is not to Burris himself but results from the controversy surrounding the criminal activities of the "appointee".
You moron! Roland Burris IS the "appointee"; i.e. the person who has been appointed. Obviously, Captain Opposite was referring to the charges surrounding Illinois' governor, Rod Blagojevich, and alleged attempts to "sell" the aforementioned Senate seat. Blagojevich, is the "appointer", the person making the appointment. By using the wrong wrong word, Reid inadvertantly contradicts himself and generally ends up sounding like a complete moron.
Apparently, new MTP moderator David Gregory, who let this gaffe slip by repeatedly without correcting his guest, is equally stupid--or maybe he was making a misguided effort to be "polite" to Reid. Tim Russert would have set Reid straight right away, I'm sure.

A Series of Unconnected Thoughts About The New TV Season

I might just check out the premiere of Reaper tonight on the CW.

The premise doesn't appeal to me at all, but some of the talent involved does. Frankly, I think the casting of Ray Wise (Twin Peaks' Leland Palmer) as Satan is simply inspired. Plus, tonight's debut episode is directed by none other than Kevin Smith.

I might take a look at Bionic Woman tomorrow night as well...though I strongly suspect that it won't last out the season. The reason is that, quite simply, revivals of classic TV shows never succeed--at least not on the broadcast networks. The revamped versions of The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and The Fugitive testify to that. They have been known to work in syndication or on cable and one of the most successful cable revivals has been Battlestar Galactica, with which the new BW shares an exec producer. So perhaps there's a chance that the few episodes that do make it air might actually be worth watching.

The only show you could say that I'm sort of in any way looking forward to seeing is Chiristina Applegate's new sitcom Samantha Who? set to air Mondays on ABC. Applegate plays a woman with amnesia who finds out that before she was a horrible person. (Though I would have to disagree with Applegate's contention in a TV Guide interview that she's never played a bitch before. Generally, Married...With Children's Kelly Bundy was more of a slut than a bitch, but she could be quite bitchy on occasion.) I just hope they follow the lead of NBC's hit Thursday night comedy line-up and do the show without a laugh track. I hate laugh tracks. I also hate How I Met Your Mother, which has nothing to do at all with this post, but I just thought I'd mention it.

New Seasons of Legion and Batman Begin Tomorrow!

I swear that I have not been looking forward this much to a new season of Saturday morning cartoons since I was a kid. Tomorrow brings the season premieres of The Batman and Legion of Super-Heroes on Kids' WB.

Legion cemented its place as one of the best super-hero cartoons ever with its season ending two part adaptation of the Legion's classic battle to stop the Sun-Eater. Every comics fans even passingly familiar with pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Legion lore knew where this story was going, but watching it get there was a hoot.

My only problem with Legion is that we still haven't seen my favorite Legionnaire, Wildfire, not even in the climactic struggle with the Sun-Eater. I hope this means that the producers have plans for him somewhere down the line.

I also hope that we see more of Matter-Eater Lad.

The Batman is my favorite of all the filmed adaptations of the Dark Knight's adventures so far. Most Batman series or movies have picked up with Batman firmly established as Gotham"s Guardian, complete with Robin and a pretty chummy relationship with Commissioner Gordon and the police. This show, on the other hand, shows us Bats at very early stage of his career, hunted by the police and as distrustful of them, and just about anyone else, as they are of him. We've actually gotten to see the character grow and progress over the course of four seasons. The series overarching story arc has concerned Bruce Wayne learning to trust others enough to let them into his life and work with them. First, he forges a tentative relationship with a police detective, then gains the trust of the commissioner. Next, he takes on a sometime partner in Batgirl before taking in fellow orphan Dick Grayson not only to work with him as Robin but to live in his house. Finally, at the end of last season, we saw him move into the wider community of super-heroes as he joined the Justice League.

From the promos I've seen for the new season, it looks like we're going to be seeing a certain Man of Steel guest starring on The Batman this season. I think it would be cool, don't you, if old Kal-El was reluctant to join the League and it was Bats, of all people, who manages to convince Supes of the advantages of being part of a team.

Gallery Hop

So, next weekend, I, and the group of cartoonist of which I am a part known as Sunday Comix, will be having a gallery show at the Gallery Upstairs over the Surly Girl Saloon in the Short North. It's for one night only, but that night is the night of the monthly Gallery Hop, September 1st, so we should get a few people coming in, and I might even dupe some gullible fool into buying one of my pieces. (Yeah, right!)

Anyway, now that Blogger allows the uploading of videos directly from your computer, I thought I would test out that feature by presenting here a video that I made which previews the pieces that I'll be showing next weekend.

Hope to see you next Saturday!

GOP Has New "Frontrunner"

Even though he laughed off the idea when it was suggested by Chris Wallace (or maybe he was just laughing at Wallace, who is utterly ridiculous) on Fox News Sunday yesterday morning, former Massachussetts governor Mitt Romney, after coming out on top in the first actual, if totally meaningless, vote of the 2008 Presidential election season, the Iowa Non-binding Straw Poll on Saturday, could arguably be considered the current frontrunner for the Republican party's Presidential nomination.

This, to me, is very good news. Nominating Romney is one of the best things the GOP could do...for Democrats. Lots of movement conservatives and Christian right types have serious qualms about Rom's positions, or former position, he claims, on gay rights and abortion, as well as the fact that he's a Mormon. (Perhaps they're wondering if he'd bring a Second and Third or even Fourth Lady to the White House) Romney's nomination would probably cause more of these people to just stay home next November than even Guiliani's could. Hell, I'd bet even the obnoxious and disliked Hillary Clinton could win against the Rominator.

Tribute to Tom Snyder

The great Tom Snyder, one of the great voices, styles and personalities in the history of talk shows, died last Sunday at the age of 71.

Here he is interviewing three members of the cast of the 1950's classic "The Adventures of Superman": Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen); Bob Shane (Inspector Henderson); and the lovely Noel Neill (the one, true Lois Lane), as well as Gary Grossman, author of the book "Superman: Serial to Cereal", which details the Man of Steel's filmed exploits from the Fleischer Studios cartoons through the Filmation TV cartoons of the 60's.

By the way, I have a copy of that book that I purchased way back in 1977 or '78, and a couple of years ago I got it signed by Ms Neill herself.

Today's Top Story...Well Not Quite, but I Care About It

From today's Columbus Dispatch:
Strickland, Dann seek near-total ban on wagering games
Governor also says he'd veto instant-racing bill

Frankly, this does not bode well for my dream of one day opening a poker room in the South Campus Gateway.

Preview of CBS Fall Schedule

So, I was just looking at CBS' fall schedule and I must say I am not impressed.

True, they did have the good sense to cancel The Class, but they have renewed Rules of Engagement, which I haven't seen, but hear is even worse. True, I probably shouldn't take other reviewers' words for it, but the truth is that I like very little that's on network TV anyway, so I probably wouldn't like this. Besides, it's got David Spade in it, and who really wants to see anything he's in.

One of their new shows is called Moonlight and it concerns a vampire who works as a private investigator. Didn't we see this done before and--most likely---better almost two decades ago as Forever Knight? Just last Thursday I decried the lack of originality in "reality" TV, but why should that genre be any different than the rest of the schedule.

Meanwhile, Cane stars Jimmy Smits and looks like Falcon Crest set on a sugar cane plantation.

Kid Nation strands 40 kids in a ghost town and tasks them with building their own civilization. Obviously inspired by the "bonk-bonk" episode of the original Star Trek. (Actually titled "Miri")

Then there are a couple of new sitcoms that look too lame to even bother dissing. They'll both last one season tops.

The good thing about CBS being the No. 1 network is that most of their schedule will be returning shows and they're only rolling out a handful of these lame turkeys. Poor NBC, which has probably slid into sixth place (out of five) by now will probably have to pretty much start from scratch.

Well, I'm done bitching for now.

See ya later!

AAAAARGH! It's "Pirate Master"

The second episode of the new "reality" series Pirate Master airs tonight on CBS.

If I were speaking to you now, you would be correct in noting a certain lack of enthusiasm in my tone. I've been turning in early every night this week and see no need to quit tonight.

Originality in "reality" TV these days is about as rare as honesty in a politician or mental stability in a cartoonist. Just about every show since Survivor is just a varitation on the basic premise of a group of strangers gathered together and eliminated one by one until only one remains to walk off with the prize.

Pirate Master, however, is a particularly egregiously derivative. It plays out like a Mulligan's stew of elements borrowed from Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother and the last couple of summer blockbusters starring Johnny Depp. I wouldn't be surprised if the "pirates" are eventually forced to sing while the "captain" and his "mates" judge them.

You get the point. It sucks. No use wasting anymore cyberspace belaboring the point. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

The Question of Sanjaya's "Friend"

We know turn our attention once again to the "Sanjaya Installation" video that popped up on YouTube a couple of weeks ago and which I embedded here last Wednesday. We leave aside the question of the true identity of Sanjaya Malakar/Bill Vendall/John Galt/Whoever and consider instead the gender identity of the person in behind Sanjaya/Vendall.

Ok, I thought upon first seeing this video, and I still believe it to be true, that this was a woman. But many people apparently think it's a man. The poster of the version of the "Sanjaya Installation" that first saw on Entertainment Weekly's site and used here introduces it by saying that "Bill Vendall and his gay friend announce that Sanjaya was a fraud." A comment on another poster's version of the video began. "Those two fags..." (I, of course, read no further. I have enough intolerant thoughts of my own--mostly directed at my co-workers--that I need read no one else's hate speech.)

So, the question is: Effeminate man or androgynous woman; which is it?

Take another look at the clip and tell me what you think.

Re-Living My Childhood via YouTube

Video "Week" continues, because, quite frankly, I just don't feel like writing anything. If I did feel like writing anything, it would be rant about how I hate horses, which would certainly not endear me to my niece Tamara, (They're stupid, ugly, smelly beasts and if I never see another damned one it'll be too soon...) and really has nothing to do with anything, especially not why I took a month off from updating this blog.

Ok, I'm ranting, so let's take a deep breath and turn to You Tube.

YouTube's great for reliving your childhood, especially if, like me, you spent 86% of that childhood plopped in front of a TV set. While poking around the site recently I found the following old commercial for what was at the time my favorite breakfast cereal, endorsed by what is, to this day, one of my favorite cartoon characters.

I really miss Pink Panther Flakes. I love the way they turned the milk pink.

In Memory of "The Big Banana": Charles Nelson Reilly

Charles Nelson Reilly died last week at age 76 and in the wake of his passing there have been fond remembrances of his years as a regular on Match Game, his role as the real estate agent on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (which, to be frank, he was the only reason to watch), and even his over the top portrayal of Hoo Doo on Lidsville, but overlooked has been one of his most memorable and bizarre roles of the 1970's, that of the "Big Banana" in commercials for Bic Banana pens.

As part of The Word's Video Week, and as tribute to one of the favorite entertainers of my childhood, here are two examples of some of Reilly's finest work:

Here's the all-singing/all dancing version:

Now For the Educational Portion of our Program...

Video Week continues with my personal favorite of all the "Multiplication Rock" segments:

Video Week Continues

Yes, it's, as you've seen, Video Week at The Word From On High, mainly because, after a month off, I want to get back into updating the blog, but I still don't really feel like writing anything nor do I really have anything important to say, so I'll just raid You Tube for a couple of more days until some inspiration strikes me or America's Got Talent debuts on NBC.

So..today's video is one of my favorite songs, and I'm sure one of yours, because everybody loves Supertramp.

Who is Sanjaya, Anyway?

So, first this vid shows up, claiming Sanjaya was merely a hoax perpetrated by an art student named Bill Vendall:

Now, another video surfaces, claiming that Bill Vendall is the hoax and Sanjaya is really real.

So, just who is real? Sanjaya? Bill Vendall? Me?

God, I'm so confused!!

From The Onion--70% of All Praise Sarcastic

To the reporters at Onion News Network who bring us this story, I can only say, "Ooooo! Good job!"

Report: 70 Percent Of All Praise Sarcastic

Impotent...er...IMPORTANT Announcement!!!

On the second day of this year's Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (its friends call it SPACE), I led a panel on the subject of on-line comics with Ryan Holgerson, Andrea "Sam" McEnaney, and Jared Koon. Even though I organized and moderated the shindig, I'm pretty much a newbie to the whole world of on-line comics, and actually had the least to contribute. I manged to learn quite a bit during the course of the hour, including several sites where I could post my comics. Later in the week, I signed up for all of them, and now Wasted Potential will be posted weekly not only on my WP blog, but on ComicSpace, Drunk Duck.com, and WebComics Nation. ComicSpace contains the entire saga so far, while Drunk Duck and WebComics Nation pick up with last week's episode. I will also be posting Pop Darts on Comic Space soon.

Now there is NO excuse for not following the mildly amusing exploits of cartoonist Norman Burns and his friends!!! The web is mine, and I'll know if you don't read it, so you better surf over there now, sparky!!!

I Got Nothin'

I'll have to finish up the SPACE report tomorrow, my friends. I have spent most of this day grappling with emotional issues and e-mail, an even as I input this entry, I am missing American Idol. So, I shall have to quickly upload this blather and run across the street to my box-like apartment to catch the rest of the show.

Talk to you tomorrw..