New music (not new music) and Nessie (not Nessie)

While scrounging through some music CDs on a recent visit to my parents' home, I was surprised to find a Katy Perry CD. No, no, I said. This is not possible. My parents like old 1950s music, not Katy Perry. Katy Perry is too hip. Even I don't have a Katy Perry CD! How could my parents have one? This must be an episode of the Twilight Zone.

But no, it was reality. My mom says that she heard Katy sing "Firework" on TV and enjoyed the song so much that she bought the CD. It's far different from 1983, when I would have to beg for $1.69 to buy a 45 rpm single. Now, they just go out and buy the whole CD. As mentioned before, I don't know where you would even buy a music single these days. Today, if you don't use itunes, you just go out and buy the whole CD. I'm thankful my parents (and I) are in a position to do such things.

My trip home also gave me some exposure to some new music artists that I wanted to share with you (In this case, "new" means I'd never heard of them before, which means they've probably been around for several years. So I beg of your patience if you've already got five albums by these folks. I just enjoy what I enjoy, and here's some of what I enjoy). For examples of their work, the easiest option is just to watch them on YouTube. I'll also list a few music artists that I have more recently discovered elsewhere.

1. JACKIE EVANCHO. Like many others, I heard the voice and thought it belonged to a great operatic singer who'd been at the met for years. But no, it belonged to a little girl who hadn't really known of her talent until she began to sing along to the movie version of "The Phantom of the Opera." Jackie Evancho is a great singer for all ages and I enjoyed her recent PBS special.

2. STRAIGHT NO CHASER. These guys, like their suits, are very cool - they demonstrate that vocal harmony is very vital to musical success. I really enjoyed their show as well. Check out their Youtube videos for "Africa" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Great stuff.

3. MUSIC GO MUSIC. If you like Abba, you'll like them. They also use harmony to their advantage.

4. LA ROUX. Speaking of Abba, synth music plays a key role for La Roux as well. If you enjoy the single "Bulletproof", you'll enjoy their debut album.

In other music news, I was saddened to hear of the breakup of R.E.M. While it may be true that they've reached the "peak", it's just as true that we enjoyed having them there. Like many great bands, their best work is classic, and their mediocre work isn't too painful. As one of the band members once said, they have been able to do things their own way. That's a blessing for them. The fact that we liked it so much was a blessing for us.

What is not much of a blessing is the recent bankruptcy and closing of Borders bookstores. Remember my posts about making your own music CDs at Borders? Well, forget them! I believe it's still possible at some FYI stores, but none of them are near me, and it's just too much of a hassle to do it any other way but online. Nothing wrong with that per se - I just like to have options. It's like the idea of the Post Office closing on Saturdays. I understand the need to save money - but I don't like the idea of losing the option of mailing things on a Saturday. And I liked the option of making my own music cDs in a store. I'm obviously not against the Internet at all - but I hate to think of a world where there are no other options.

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NESSIE SPOTTED IN UTAH: I took a very rare (for me) business trip recently which gave me the chance to fly over Nevada and parts of Utah. As I looked out the window, I saw several large lakes. In one of these lakes, I noticed a white object swimming in the lake which appeared to have at least three long legs behind it. A giant white squid? As I watched, I remembered the picture of the "Loch Ness Monster" that was reported on Google earth & that I had blogged about in the past. This creature looked almost exactly like it! A little while later, we flew over another lake, and I saw several more monsters that looked almost exactly the same! Wow! I must be the luckiest guy in the world!

Uh, no. They were boats. Clearly they were boats. And as I remembered the Nessie Google earth image, I can't believe nobody (including myself) ever positively identified it as a white boat with wakes flowing to the side and behind it! Surely people who do a lot of flying would have been able to say, "It's a white boat. That's how they look from an airplane." I guess it's just so much fun to believe in the Loch Ness monster that we overlook obvious solutions in favor of what we want to see. I kind of liked the idea of Nessie swimming butt-first in protest of everyone trying to bug her all the time.

Here's one site that got it right:

http://www.scientificanews.com/2009/08/its-nessie-on-google-earth-or-is-that.html


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QUICK THANKS: To the few (and I do mean few) of you who know about all the garbage I'm going through right now, thank you for your continued prayers and/or good vibes. They are much appreciated, as are you.

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PAST MINUTES: In keeping with our "all Carolyne Heldman all the time" mantra, I'd like to point out a new webpage dedicated to the MTV show "120 Minutes," which Carolyne hosted a few times. (Check out the year 1988 in the archives for a playlist from an episode that she hosted). They're seeking contributors (and so am I), so if you happen to have a video of an older episode, please contact them, and then contact me. :) I have a little bit of footage to trade with.

http://tylerc.com/the-120-minutes-archive/

So Many Dreams

In keeping with the trend of listing tracks from some of my mix tapes, I'd like to offer you this mix from circa 1992. It is a fun album and it features something I don't do very often - cover art drawn by me. The picture is of Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" and Grover from "Sesame Street" enjoying a sunny day in the enchanted forest. Of course. Neither Ginger, Grover nor the enchanted forest actually perform on this album, but it's a cool picture anyway. (Although if they WERE to sing a song, they could probably sing the "two g sounds" song from the alphabet album, since their names have both sounds. . .but I digress). The picture is here reproduced so that all my die-hard fans can enjoy it.

It's my blog. Let me dream.

On a day of jury duty not long after this tape was finished, I found myself writing out the lyrics to EVERY song on side one of the album. Yes, I was bored. But it demonstrates how much "into" the album I was at the time.

The album title comes from a lyric in the famous song "You Light Up My Life", which is of course on the album. It is true that the lyrics to my mix tapes are somewhat important to me. I don't like to put songs on them that I find objectionable. It's a rare problem, but I have sometimes had "fights" with myself over songs that I felt were OK musically but wrong for an album of mine due to lyric content.

1. If - Bread
2. Losing my religion - R.E.M.
3. A Teenager in Love - Dion and the Belmonts
4. Island of Dreams - The Seekers
5. I Started a Joke - The Bee Gees
6. Caribbean Amphibian - Kermit the Frog
7. You Light up my Life - Debby Boone
8. World where you live - Crowded House
9. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
10. California Dreamin' - The Mamas and the Papas
11. Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
12. Bless this House - Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians
13. Evening Falls. . . - Enya
14. River - Enya
15. If I were - Kermit the Frog
16. We can work it out - Beatles
17. Perhaps Love - John Denver and Placido Domingo
18. Someday My Prince will Come / Finale - Snow White soundtrack


Looking over the list, I can identify the trend of putting a few songs on from the same album. (Enya's "Watermark"; Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration; Snow White soundtrack). I can also ID some cassette singles from the time that were purchased (R.E.M.; Dion). Yes, this was before CDs were the big thing in our house, and everything is from an LP or a tape.
Listening to this again today, I still love it a lot. The songs are fun and full of emotion and often full of longing, and the finale to Snow White is a symphonic masterpiece. It's hard to believe I did this almost 20 years ago. "Boy, you old."

The version of the finale to Snow White on this tape is the one from the Disneyland LP, which is slightly different from the version made available on CD. Read more about that here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/snow-white-and-seven-dwarfs.html


Ginger's fans can read more about her here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/gingers-i-mean-gilligans-island.html


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EAT YOUR HEART OUT, MAPQUEST: We are finally able to answer one of the greatest geographical questions of all time. "Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?"
According to the 1971 Year Book of the World Book Encyclopedia, in article on page 485 by Allan Davidson, "Sesame Street is near 104th Street and Second Avenue in New York City's East Harlem." He then goes on to say that it not a "real" street (no way!) and talk about the show, which at that time was quite a force in the TV world. So now we have a much better general idea than we've ever had before. I feel like I've discovered a boat on Mount Ararrat.

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ON YOUTUBE: DARTH VADER'S VISIT TO DISNEYLAND. Friend Jenny pointed out this video recently & I thought it would be fun to add it to my page as well. The new Star Tours is here, and this video from Disney Parks explains exactly why good things come to those who wait and have knowledge of the force. A fun and funny video that you can watch on my Youtube page in my favorites folder.

Won' t you be his neighbor?

Are you in the market for a new home? Well, if you're willing to do a bit of digging, you may be able to buy Mister Rogers' home! (Or at least, a home in the Mr. Rogers style.) That's exactly what blogger TL of the Nieghborhood Archive did. He now owns an exact replica of Mister Rogers' television home - that is, the tiny model one you see at the beginning of his TV show! Okay, so it's a bit small, and unfurnished. You will probably have to put in your own plumbing and electicity lines as well. But how cool. I urge you to read his post about how he found and restored the home. It's much funnier than this post.

http://neighborhoodarchive.com/blog/?p=375

Speaking of Mister Rogers, now is the time for all die-hard Mr. Rogers video collectors to shell out the big bucks and buy some copies of their favorite episodes, most of which are being made available on home video for the first time from the Fred Rogers company. Most of the episodes are only available as downloads to your computer or iPod, but some are available as DVDs. TL has a link to a page where you can pick out the exact episodes you want. This is a real treat for "old school" Mr. Rogers fans who want to peek at the older episodes again. It's almost like the "Noggin" revolution of 1999-2000. Old school PBS rules!

http://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/merch/other/buyeps/index.html

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HOW TO DISAPPEAR: I have a great excuse for not keeping up with the blogging. This is a long story, but for the moment I do not have a working Internet connection. And this very long moment has lasted for several months now. So now I'm without live TV or the Web. I'm missing the Web a bit more. What I miss most is the ability to get information quickly. That's probably the best luxury the Web has to offer us, and the reason why sites like Google and Wikipedia have been so successful.

It also may be the reason why within the past two months, no less than four local stores/companies have decided to close up shop. The stores have one thing in common - they sell CDs and DVDs. At one going out of business sale, there was a DVD set of the old "Superman" TV show "on sale" at 20% off. When I did a search for the same item on Amazon.com, I found that its normal price on Amazon was the same as the sale price at the store. There you have it - the reason why the store went out of business. If the Web offers items at a lower price, why buy it at the store? I'm losing four favorite shopping haunts. Obviously, the Internet is not completely to blame - but when so many similar businesses leave the scene, you can't deny its impact.

So if I don't immediately answer your messages, there's a good reason for it. I do have computer access, so I can occasionally check in to see how things are going. It sucks, I know. I won't bore you with the details (too late, I know), but I'm going through some bumps in the road of life. But I'll get through this. So thanks, dude, for letting me borrow your computer so I can do this post.

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POKER FACE: One of the stores going out of business is a local Borders, which is the one that had the mix and burn station where you could burn your own music CDs. Darn it, we finally get this awesome technology, and now it's out of my reach! :) Again, you can look at the Web and say that music can be downloaded from home, so why go to the store to do it? A good point - well, what about folks like ME who don't have Web access, huh? Sigh. The Internet has revolutionized the music business, both in good ways and bad.

But I digress. I wanted to give you another playlist of songs from one of my Borders albums that you may enjoy looking at. At the time I mentioned Lady Gaga in a post last year, I was more familiar with her image than her music. But a local radio station has been playing some of her "hits", and I must admit to enjoying much of what I've heard, as this song list will show. This is one of my favorite "Borders albums."

1. Poker Face - Lady Gaga

2. Wonderful Woman - The Smiths

3. Hearts Courageous - Azure Fields

4. Boa Constrictor- Marylee

5. Haven't met you yet - Michael Buble

6. Come Harvest Time - Steve Amerson

7. Love Never Dies - From the musical

8. Alejandro - Lady Gaga

9. Hi Friend - Bob McGrath

10. A smile connects us - Kermit the Frog

11. Paparrazzi - Lady Gaga

12. Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

13. Already Gone - Kelly Clarkson

14. Jenny Dreamed of Trains - John Denver

15. Bigmouth Strikes Again (Live) - Morrissey

This album is fun to listen to. At times quiet, at times rocking. It's almost exactly an hour long, making it a good fit for a recording. But I don't think the cursing in "Paparazzi" is necessary. It's there to try to sell records to sheltered teenagers who think that cursing is so grown-up and will make them cool. Couldn't she have sung, "Snap snap to that crap on the radio?" It means the same thing, and it almost rhymes!

Sesame scandals

By the time I get around to blogging, things that happen “now” actually took place a few weeks ago. The real Internet is about five times faster than this wee little blog. I hope you'll be patient with me as I comment on an old story- namely the one about Katy Perry not being allowed on Sesame Street for showing a little too much "skin." It's nice to know that those overprotective parents are still on the job. Just a few comments on that situation.

If you knew that something illegal was going on in the city hall of your hometown, you'd be upset and demand the illegal action stop. It is, after all, your city, and you want it to be run the right way. Well, Sesame Street has become an institution that everyone thinks they “own.” The show finds itself in the unfortunate position of trying to please everybody. This is particularly important for Sesame Street, since the show relies very much on input from the children who watch it. While it's true that this can be a great benefit in some ways, “too many cooks spoil the broth,” as they say. With so many people keeping an eye on the show, something like this is going to happen from time to time. It's happened before – songs and skits have been edited or dropped altogether due to complaints and concerns. Here are the two most notable:

1. The “I want a monster to be my friend” song - the original version was dropped due to worries that it promoted child abuse. Ugh.
2. The divorce episode. In an effort to deal with the issue of divorce, an episode was created dealing with Snuffy’s parents getting divorced. Because the test audience of kids did not fully grasp what was going on, the show and the subject were dropped. That decision marked an important turning point in the history of the show. Up until then, Sesame Street had tackled some somewhat complex subjects for kids - death, marriage and having babies being the big three. But when they chose not to press the issue of divorce, they sort of decided not to press any more similar issues. Sesame Street certainly doesn’t push the envelope anymore. Now they are part of the “establishment,” if you will, which is actually not necessarily bad. But it was a radical show for its time. I fear we won’t be seeing anything too radical from them in the future.

As an aside, do you recall the worries about Cookie Monster “not liking Cookies anymore?” I wasn’t too worried about it, because I knew that it was already established that Cookie didn’t only eat Cookies. (Cookie actually eats just about anything). And indeed, today he still eats Cookies. If they really were concerned about Cookie, they would just drop the character, as they have done with so many other characters on the show. But sadly, I think that the “A cookie is a sometimes food” deal was more of a PR thing than anything else. It was meant to get people worried, to make some money, then to let things get back to normal. Kind of like Superman’s death. Kind of like Spider-Man’s new costume. Kind of like. . .well, hopefully you see where this is going.

Perhaps the Internet has been a great blessing to the show because it has prevented this skit from “corrupting our youth.” Maybe this is the new way that questionable material can be eliminated from the show. Just pull it when Internet viewers complain. It's a reasonable idea – how much worse would it have been if this “horrid” material had aired in front of billions of kids? Better to “nip it in the bud” and stop it before it even airs on TV. Consider how quickly the uproar arrived over the skit. If there are enough people peeking into the Sesame Street website, maybe they can be the de facto guards and give the final “yea” or nay” as to what airs. That seems to be what they're doing now, anyway.

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VIVA VARIETY: Let’s go back in time to. . .well, to just about any time between the 1950s and the 2000s. You’re in a record store, or if it’s post 1990, you’re in a CD store. You find an album that has a song that you like. You find another album that has another song that you like. The problem is you only have enough money to buy one album. You have to make a decision which song you’d prefer. “Wouldn’t it be nice,” you say to yourself, “if I could somehow put both of these songs on the same album?”

Fast forward to today, when such a thing is possible. I don’t work for Mix & Burn, but the technology is finally here to walk into a store and essentially create your own album mix without having to buy ten separate albums. Mankind has waited for this day for far too long. I thought I would share with you the play list from my latest CD to give you an idea of the wide selection of tunes available. All these tracks are available at the stores that have the mix & burn technology. Here’s “Popcorn”:

1. Reminiscing -Little River Band
2. Take up your cross- John Michael Talbot
3. Popcorn - The Muppets (specifically, the Swedish Chef)
4. Bulletproof - La Roux
5. Waiting on the world to change - John Mayer
6. Eagle - ABBA
7. 17 Again - Eurythmics
8. It’s just a matter of time - Randy Travis
9. Genie in a bottle - Christina Aguilera
10. Saturday in the Park - Chicago
11. Morning has broken - Art Garfunkel
12. We See - Thelonious Monk
13. It’s a Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
14. Angel - Sarah McLachlan
15. Adios, Au Revoir, Aufwiedersehn - Lawrence Welk
16. Viva La Vida - Coldplay

Pretty cool variety. Of course, they don’t have everything, and I have found myself making a list of all the songs I like that they don’t have. But despite its limitations, this is very cool. I get the music I like and I save money. See, life isn’t so bad.

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FOUR TIMES FOUR: Just a few quick additions to the last post about the Melody Four, based on some recently found album notes. How did they get their name? Rather quickly, it turns out. Just before they were about to make their debut on the radio, someone asked what their name was. They didn’t have one, so the someone told the announcer, “Call them the Melody Four.” The moral: Don’t waste too much time thinking of a name for your band. Also, it turns out that Bill Pearce wasn’t just a member of the 16 Singing Men - all four of the Melody Four were as well. That is in fact, how the 16 Singing Men were formed - They took each member of the band and added three other people who could sing their same parts. Hence 16 singing men. The moral: Mathematics and music go together. And consider this revelation: The 16 singing men weren’t all men! Well, the men were, but the women weren’t. It turns out that some ladies helped them out on some of their albums. This is somewhat misleading, of course. I realize that “16 singing men and a few singing women thrown in for good measure” is kind of a long name, but it would have been more accurate. The moral: Even Christian bands can lie if there’s not enough room to fit their name on the album cover.

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FRIENDS NO MORE? Courteney Cox and David are breaking up? Boy, talk about mixed feelings. :) Actually, they’re not so mixed. When you like someone, you want them to be happy, regardless of who - or if - they choose to marry. I’m hoping against hope that it’s not too late and they’ll try again to make it work. It’s like the advice I once gave to a friend whose marriage was breaking up. Do everything in your power to make it work. That way, even if it doesn’t work, you’ll be able to walk away saying, “I did everything I could.” I hope Courteney and David do everything they can.

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POST, ALREADY: Here’s a philosophical question for you: If I spend all my time blogging, tweeting and texting, does that mean I don’t have a life, or if I DON’T spend all my time blogging, tweeting and texting, does that mean I don’t have a life? An argument could be made either way, if you think about it. And if you think about it, does that mean you don’t have a life?

In the long list of suspects that keep this blog from being updated, the usual culprits abound: family, friends, home movies, computer troubles (sorry about all that spam I’ve been sending you), work, homework, work on my home, work at my home, etc. It’s frustrating for me, because ideas for posts arise, but time keeps me away. Most recently, a new writing project is eating away all my free computer time. I’m having fun writing, but blog posting is getting pushed aside again. Hopefully you’ve figured out that an abundance of words doesn’t necessarily mean anything. And with that in mind. . .
　

The constant disclaimer

It all began when I was going to focus on someone for my latest blog post. I was going to put up a link to their site, when suddenly I realized that I didn’t always agree with everything that this person said or did. In fact, there were a few things this person said that I didn’t like at all. So I considered putting up a “disclaimer”- basically something explaining that I didn’t endorse everything that the person said or did. Simple idea, right? You’ve seen disclaimers before. They are basically there to keep people from being sued.

But then I realized that if I really wanted to be complete, I would need to put a disclaimer on just about every link and post in this blog. Because there’s not ANY one thing here that completely expresses my views. Even if I totally agree with a post, there’s almost always more to tell. I think that may be one reason it can be so difficult to share your political or religious views with someone. There are “too many howevers”, as Charles Schulz once said. And it’s easy to be misunderstood by those who aren’t very imaginative, and think that every cowboy has to ride a horse. Even to say something simple like “I am a man” can carry with it a bad connotation for those who seek to find faults with someone. “You’re a man? That must mean you’re brutish and uncaring.” “No, that’s not true at all!” “Then why point out that you’re a man? Why not just keep your mouth shut so I can continue to believe my prejudices?”

The following story is true, but the names have been changed to protect the stupid: I once listened in on two people talking with each other about another person who is (reportedly) gay. Friend number one said, in complete seriousness, “I knew he had to be gay because he liked Barbara Streisand.” Friend number two nodded in agreement. I felt like throwing up. That’s called prejudice. To state what must be obvious (to everyone but my friends), not every Barbara Streisand fan is gay! What do you suppose statements like that do to all the straight guys who like Barbara Streisand? They’re going to keep it a secret because they don’t want to be misunderstood.

Let’s suppose that you know two people who have been hanging out together quite a bit. Does that mean they’re sexually intimate? Folks, we don’t have enough information, so we just can’t say that for sure. They might be intimate, but we just don’t know. I’m not going to say that they are intimate if I don’t know the answer. I’m not going to jump to conclusions. That’s kind of the point- prejudice is assuming that everyone falls into a neat little cubbyhole, and that every Republican believes the same thing as every other Republican. That’s not true. That’s as foolish as saying that every Barbara Streisand fan is gay. That’s as foolish as saying that everyone who hangs out together must be intimate. Wouldn't it be foolish to let your prejudices keep you from enjoying or learning from someone else?

I’m not against trying to be polite, or politically correct. But if I REALLY wanted to not offend anyone. . .then I probably shouldn’t have been born, and neither should you have been born. Because all it takes is two people. I’ll never be you, and you’ll never be me. Be patient with me and I will try to be patient with you. Understand that I will make mistakes and you will, too. Please don’t jump to conclusions about me based on anything here you don't like. I'm definitely not trying to offend, but sometimes it just happens. Don't let prejudice keep you from enjoying or learning from others.

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A JOYFUL NOISE: Sometimes as you listen to & collect music, you learn about artists that you had never heard of before, and you begin to appreciate their work. This post is about a case of that. I’ve never considered the trumpet and trombone to be the best-suited instruments for “easy listening,” but I was forgetting about the soft tones that can be produced by an expert in the field like Bill Pearce was. I had never heard of him either. But sometimes a person’s influence is greater than you realize, and that seems to be the case with Bill.

Bill, who passed away earlier this year, was a member of the “Melody Four” and “16 Singing Men.” If you are interested in Christian music from the 1950s on up, you have hopefully heard of those groups. For some reason, the “16 Singing Men” are among the hottest-selling (and hardest to find) Christian artists whose work is out of print. One of their out-of-print CDs routinely sells for over $100. That’s out of my league, and it’s unfortunate that it’s so hard to find work by those guys that the average guy can afford to buy.

Bill also hosted his own radio show (“Nightsounds”) heard nationally, and was arguably the most important trombone player in Christian music. At least he was well-known enough that a popular trombone website featured an in-depth interview with him. The interview reveals a man who deeply loves the Lord and wanted to serve him. He certainly succeeded as far as I can see - two popular Christian groups AND your own radio show, offering comfort to listeners? Sounds like success to me. Again, I hadn’t heard of Bill before, but I’m sure the Lord knew him. I look forward to meeting him one day.

http://www.nightsoundsradio.org/index.cfm

http://www.trombone.org/articles/library/viewarticles.asp?ArtID=105

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ON YOUTUBE: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW. One of my favorite "lost skits" from Sesame Street is available on YouTube (and on the Sesame Street website) for our viewing pleasure. The song was available on the old "Stars come out on Sesame Street" album, but now the video has resurfaced, and I'm glad to see it again. You can find it in the favorites folder on my YouTube page, the link to which is in the links section.

　

To be continued? Not again. . .

One of my silly home movies features a coloring book with a story that basically ends right in the middle. The hero gets captured, then the coloring book ends. Pretty stupid, huh? It just doesn’t seem right to end a story at such a point. And yet this is nothing new. Back in the day, buying or reading comic books was somewhat of a problem for me, since we never subscribed to them, and we weren’t always going down the street to buy them. So if a comic book ended with a cliffhanger (as most of them did), I hardly ever got to find out exactly what happened next. It was not until years later when comic collecting became more intense that I finally began to find out what happened to those characters.


But sometimes, we never found out. Fans of the old “Jack and Jill” magazine may recall the character of “Perky Puppet.” Perky and friends went on an adventure one day and were never heard from again. Another character (Rufus Crustbuster, somebody else you‘ve probably never heard of) took over the storyline, and Perky sort of disappeared into the ether. Sad. And very lazy writing. You may never have heard of Perky Puppet, but now a similar thing has happened to a character you probably have heard of.


The comic strip “Annie” came to an end on Sunday, June 13, 2010. But worse than the fact that Annie is ending is the fact that Annie ended on a CLIFFHANGER! We aren’t going to find out (right away) how Annie gets out of her latest predicament! The last panel in the last strip says “And this is where we leave our Annie. For now-” Great. Just great. Exactly WHEN and HOW we find out what happens to Annie is a complete mystery which I don’t think even Annie’s creators know for sure. Folks, this is not only lazy writing, it’s bad policy. It makes the readers angry. If you only got half of your hamburger when you paid for a whole one, you’d be upset. (Yes, I know we didn’t have to pay much to read Annie, but work with me here).


I’m thinking of some other major shows that have come to an end without everything being completely resolved- namely "Lois and Clark", “Lost” and “The Sopranos.” Is this the latest trend? End with MOST of the questions answered, but not all of them? Or end with some answered and some unanswered? Or, like Annie and so many other comics, end with nothing at all answered? There’s another great comic strip about a one-eyed sailor that has run for many years now. If Annie can end, why not Popeye? With Popeye it will probably be less painful, as the strip (to my knowledge) doesn’t use a storyline as much as it used to. So it likely won’t “end in the middle of the story,” because there isn’t a story.


But meanwhile, we still await word on both Perky Puppet and Annie. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a creative guy myself that I don’t like the characters (or the audience) being treated this way. But Kermit’s advice of “write your own ending” is sometimes very wise. And it could be that if you really want to know how Annie gets out of her latest predicament, you’ll have to discover it for yourself. Good luck, and let me know how it all turns out.

　
TV OR NOT TV: I’m in the middle of a grand experiment here at my place. It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a while now, and now I actually am doing it. For the past 2 months or so, I’ve dropped my cable company, and I haven’t been watching live TV. This actually isn’t the first time I’ve done it, but this is the first time I’ve done it where I wasn’t able/willing to have somebody else tape something for me. :) The good news is that I really don’t miss it that much. I’m not against TV at all, but it was getting foolish to spend money on something that was hardly ever used. As vital as we sometimes think it is, TV is a luxury. We sadly haven’t been using it as a luxury, but as a necessity. It’s time we changed that. We don’t have to watch something just because someone else says we should.

You’ve probably heard of Bruce Springsteen’s “57 channels and nothing on.” Actually, aside from the loads of junk, there’s a lot of fine stuff on TV. But for me, there’s not a lot on TV that makes me want to watch it- and a lot less that makes me want to pay the bills to watch it. I’ve actually “done the math” on this. If you’re paying $60 or more per month for television, and there are only three things on per month that you want to see, that’s like paying $20 to watch something on TV! Indeed, why not just buy the DVD if you can? It honestly is a good question to ask yourself as you’re lounging around complaining about the stupid show you’re watching. . .and then not changing the channel. You just sit there complaining about what’s going on. But you don’t do anything about it, even though you have the power to change things. You remind me of several people I know. Get up. Turn off tube. Do something better. Heck, you might even want to give up surfing the Internet if you really want to.
Wait, where are you going?

　
NO MORE HOT PANTS? A lot of comic book fans are feeling pretty patriotic these days. They're upset that Wonder Woman is losing her star-spangled blue shorts! I'm only a bit upset, as it has been pointed out that at least you can still see the outline of her legs. I suppose we haven't lost too much. Although I should point out that both WW and Captain America have seen some changes recently- and that both characters traditionally wear patriotic clothing. Are comic book writers turning against patriotism? Is this a plot to reduce the value of the red, white & blue? Well, actually, Wonder Woman changed her outfit for the same reason that Captain America died, and Superman died. To sell comics. I think we'll be seeing the hot pants again. Superman died, and we saw him again. Captain America will be starring in a movie, even though he died. Spider-Man changed his costume. Then he went back to the old one. Pardon my cynicism, but when you've seen it all before. . .It's just like Lady Gaga. I look at her and see Madonna. Some people look at Madonna and see Peggy Lee. Some people look at Peggy Lee and see whoever played the “provocative blonde solo singer” role before she did. I'm not sure who that was. I'm not quite that old. Close, though.


AT LAST WE KNOW: Oh, you lucky reader. I know you thought you were just wasting your time reading my blog, but I am going to reward you handsomely for your efforts. I am going to tell you THE MEANING OF LIFE! It isn't going to be as deep and profound as you'd hope, but it's going to be quite meaningful. I figured it out last week as I went to attend a meeting that I thought was taking place at a local library. I went to the library, but there was no meeting. Kind of reminded me of another event (check out the January 2006 archives for that one). So I decided to use my free time to do some shopping. Went to a store I wanted to go to for a while. It was closed. Went to another store nearby. It was closed. Went to Goodwill to shop and drop off a donation. They were closed - but the lady who was there was glad to take my donation. At this point I was getting mad. Why is nothing going right today? I thought about another nearby store, and immediately thought to myself, “Why bother? They're closed.” Which they were!


Now I realize that this seems like a petty thing to complain about in the big scheme of things. So what if I went out shopping and the stores were closed? Well, it's easy to say that now, because it's over. But it wasn't fun at the time. In the midst of my anger, I decided to stop in at Rite Aid and have a chocolate chip ice cream cone. It was good. Yum. I was reasonably happy again. As I walked along the parking lot eating the ice cream, the secret of life occurred to me. No, it's not ice cream. Life is making the best out of a bad situation. Think about all the people you know or have ever heard of. No matter how much they were blessed or cursed, no matter what they had to go through, they had to make the best they could out of a bad situation - life. Life has always been a challenge. It always will be. We meet the challenge every day and - even to a very small degree - we overcome the challenge. We don't overcome everything, but I think we should be proud of what we do overcome. Life gives us lemons, and we make lemonade. But we MAKE the lemonade. It doesn't appear naturally. The good that we find in this life comes only if we look for it. Most of us are only looking at the lemons and saying, “This sucks,” and going home. It never occurs to us that we have to do something. In a day filled with bad things, I did one thing to make me happy. I overcame. I made it a good day. I'll try to keep doing that, and hopefully next time I won't even need the ice cream.

　

Star Tours closing- for a while

Since its debut in 1987, Star Tours has been one of my favorite rides in the Disneyland park. But the ride will be closing in a few weeks to re-debut in 2011 with a new version. The usual mixed feelings arise- although I should know by now that whatever they do, it's going to be fun. I think that for the most part, the Disney & Star Wars team-up has been a great success. They've been able to create things that are both fun for Star Wars fans and for Disney. I had great fun watching the YouTube clips of the Star Wars fan days at Walt Disney World. You haven't lived until you've seen Darth Vader dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller!" Silly? Of course. But fun. I sometimes think we need to be careful not to make fun of Jar-Jar Binks. Who is to say that Star Wars fans aren't just as silly as he is?

I had hoped to visit Disneyland earlier this year, but the usual real-world issues crept in, and it's likely that my last visit to the old "Star Tours" was just that. But I look forward to next year's new ride.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Tours_(real-world)

http://disneylandnewstoday.com/2010/05/13/star-tours-closing-dates-announced/

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EVERYONE ELSE IS BORED: This is my 100th post. But you don't care. :) That's fine! I understand. The Web is full of a lot of stuff and our lives don't allow much time for unimportant things, like a blog that's only updated every few weeks.

A few weeks ago at work, we listened to a presentation from somebody in the Web department. No, not Spider-Man. It was an Internet person who wanted to tell us about how we can attract more people to our websites. It was certainly a good presentation for anyone who wanted to attract a lot of readers to their sites. But what the speaker may not have understood is that not every website has the same goal. The “goal” of this blog is not necessarily to attract thousands of readers.

A real goal of blogging was made clear recently in a post by Lee from the “Music you (possibly) won't hear anywhere else” blog. In his comments section, someone had snidely posted something like, “Jesus loves you, everyone else is bored.” After some consideration, Lee put the comment up in its own posting. Why? Because he realized that it was true. And it is (no offense, Lee!). And it's true for me as well. The Lord and I have been through a lot of happy, sad and angry times together. The fact that He cares for me after all the crap I've given Him means the world to me. With Him, it doesn't matter to me that everyone else is bored.

Sesame Street political dreams

By request from the Muppet Central forums, here's a picture of Big Bird when he ran for president in a 1970s episode of Sesame Street. I don't own the original picture, so thanks go out to whoever first took the time to scan this in. I'm guessing that it was part of a press kit or press release.

Years after Big Bird's run for president, Oscar showed Cookie Monster a crumpled-up copy of Big Bird's presidential poster. This inspired Cookie to run himself, and sing the immortal "If me were president Cookie." It was a good song that might never be heard again. :) Oscar accompanied Cookie Monster to various speeches in front of an anything muppet audience. The one quote from Cookie I recall: "Give me liberty, or give me cookie." In the end, both Cookie and Big Bird dropped out of the race for the same reason: It's really hard to run for president.

Years later, Oscar would run for mayor of New York City. His campaign ad began with a voice-over from Telly Monster:

TELLY: Oscar, do you think this city is a mess?

OSCAR: Yes. This city is a mess. But it's not enough of a mess. Vote for me and the Big Apple will become the rotten apple!

Again, Oscar dropped out of the race within one episode, I think mostly because of all the good things he realized he would have to do.

Some other notable fictional folk who have run for president: Snoopy (In a promotion with Dolly Madison, I think), Winnie the Pooh (in a promotion with Sears, I think) , Olive Oyl (in a dream sequence from a cartoon) .

When it isn't on itunes

Record Store Day is this week, on Saturday. Why does it matter? Well, let me tell you. . .

Two favorite albums from my youth were released on CD in March- the “Sesame Street Old School CD set volume 1” is a must-have for “Sesame Seeds” like myself. It includes the first Sesame Street album, as well as “Bert and Ernie sing along,” which I believe is the funniest children’s album ever made. It is certainly one of the most creative. (The set also includes “Big Bird Sings,” which while not a specific favorite, deserves mentioning.) So this was a set I wanted- but I decided to buy it locally rather than online. I’m not against ordering online, but when you buy things locally, you get them into your greedy little hands faster. Yes, you do. But this created an issue- exactly where should I get it? This isn’t an easy question to answer. Here’s what happened on my escapade:

1. My first attempt was at secondspin.com. Their store is easily the largest in my area, and while they don’t have everything, they’ve got a lot. It’s easy for a music browser to waste an hour or two looking around. I felt that this was a reasonable first choice. But no dice. The album wasn’t there.

2. While I didn’t really expect to find it at Wal-Mart, I felt it was at least worth a peek. Wal-Mart is the 21st-century answer to the “general store.” You can generally find everything you will generally need. Need a shirt? Need a book? Need a movie? You can find them all at Wal-Mart. The problem is, you may not find THE shirt, THE book or THE movie that you were looking for. The more specific you get, the less likely you are to find it at Wal-Mart, or Target or any of the similar stores. This case was no exception, I couldn’t find the CD set there.

3. At last, success. The “Old School” set was found in. . .a local independent music store. Not a children’s store. A store for music fans. This store isn’t the biggest music store in town. But biggest isn’t always best. I don’t think the store was making a specific effort to bring Sesame Street to the masses (in fact, there was only one copy in the store). But I do think the store was trying to have as good a selection of music as it possibly could. If that means offering a Sesame Street CD set, so be it. And in this case, they found someone eager to buy. I’m glad I was able to buy it at an independent store. I wish that other stores would see the importance of trying to offer as much as they could in store. It works.

The saga of music stores over the past few years has been interesting. Incidentally, Hollywood Video has been having some issues as well, closing several stores in an effort to bounce back from bankruptcy. Their struggles demonstrate how even the movie rental industry has changed. Check my archives for more about music stores.

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BEYOND THE POINT OF NO RETURN: Longtime comic book fans will remember the “What if” series of comics. They featured stories that tried to answer what would happen to a particular character if things were slightly different. For example, the first issue was titled, “What if Spider Man had joined the Fantastic Four?“ Another was titled, “What if Wolverine had killed the Hulk?“ It was a fun series, but composer Andrew Lloyd Webber may have just created the most elaborate and expensive “What if” of all.

In the movie “Phantom of the Opera,” based on Lloyd Webber’s hit musical, there is a point where the Phantom has the opportunity to make love to Christine. (It isn’t the best opportunity, as Christine has just fainted). But he doesn’t do it. He draws the curtain down and lets her sleep. Well, in the new musical play “Love Never Dies,” we are given a “what if” scenario. What if the Phantom and Christine had been intimate? Or perhaps a better title would be, “What if everyone strongly suspected that the Phantom and Christine had been intimate?” It’s an interesting idea, and it has many longtime “Phantom Phans” in a bit of an uproar. Admittedly, it doesn’t seem to fit with the original story very well. I can just see the Phantom drawing the curtain down, then saying, "Oh, what the heck?" and pulling it up again.

But to be fair, it isn’t the first time someone has had the idea for this plot twist. It appears notably in Susan Kay’s novel “Phantom,” although in that case the story was changed slightly to allow a time and place for the intimacy. I’ve read Kay’s novel & enjoyed it- it certainly should also be viewed as a “What if” when compared to the musical, as it contains events and characters that weren’t included in that production. If the phans can accept phantom phiction like “Phantom”, perhaps they can phind it in their hearts to phorgive this latest production. Phew!

If you check out the forums at phantomoftheopera.com, you can see some pictures from the “Love Never Dies” production. One of these pictures features Christine and the Phantom standing in front of what one poster says looks like. . .a part of the female anatomy. As the poster says, “I can’t make this up.” The play has debuted in England to mixed reviews. At least the music seems to be quite beautiful (you can hear one song in my Favorites folder on my Youtube page). I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing this play, but whether it will affect me the way “Phantom” did remains to be seen. But if it’s an enjoyable show, Mr. Lloyd Webber, that’s all I can ask of you.
　
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ON YOUTUBE: ERNIE AND BERT GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS. It’s about time I featured this one. The audio comes from my own recording, posted to YouTube by jonnytbirdzback. It’s one of many fun lost Sesame St. skits that as of now hasn’t been added to the clips on Sesame Workshop’s site. But it’s still early. . .You can check it out in my favorites folder on my YouTube page, and if you want to see more of the same you can check out Sesame Workshop’s site for cool classic clips.

　

March musings part 2

A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: I first visited Hollywood on a very brief trip back in 2006 or so. I basically walked down Hollywood Boulevard taking pictures of the stars in the street. I made it all the way to the classic Mann’s Chinese Theater, but time prevented me from looking at the legendary hand and footprints in cement. I basically had to leave right then and there. A few weeks ago, I got another chance to go to Hollywood, and this time the cement prints were a must see. It was fun- I got to compare my handprints to Humphrey Bogart, Robin Williams and Deanna Durbin. and it also led me to a bit of a mystery. It seems that a penny was put into the block with Deanna Durbin’s cement prints. Why? It took a little bit of searching, but it seems that Deanna played a character named “Penny” in a film around that time. Here’s a quote from an article that someone was kind enough to post:

"They're organizing an expedition to dig up the penny at the Chinese Theater," explained Deanna (Durbin). When they took my footprints for the theater someone exclaimed, 'Oh, we should have a penny to put in the cement with her footprints!' Because my name is 'Penny" in the picture, you know. And some elderly lady brought one up and they used it. I tried to find her afterward, thinking I'd like to know more about her-she was so sweet to us. But she had gone home."
- HOW KIDS GROW UP IN HOLLYWOOD, Oakland Tribune, February 26, 1939, By Alice L. Tildesley

This is a fun example of change that has been laying on the ground for the past half-century or so. My friend Bert, obsessed with finding pennies (long story, folks), urged me to try and pick it out of the cement. No such luck; it was wedged in there pretty deep. He then suggested I take out the entire block of cement and bring it home. I responded, "Who do you think I am, Lucille Ball?"

I’m not sure about this, but I’d bet that the Star Wars characters have the shortest amount of time between their first movie and getting their feet in cement at the theater. The date on their cement block is August 3, 1977- which is LESS THAN THREE MONTHS after Star Wars debuted! How would you like to get your footprints in cement at the theater less than three months after you debuted as a movie star? Not too shabby, boys. It’s quite a testament to how popular the film was at that time.

It was a fun visit - I’d recommend you to go early, and be aware that you’ll be ambushed by several people who want to give you a tour of the town. You can view a few of the classic prints in cement on my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sesameguy/sets/72157623674734072/

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THE MORE THINGS CHANGE: I picked up a copy of Fantastic Four 400 at a flea market recently, and got a real kick out of it. It was a fun read, and it immediately brought me up to speed (well, at least more up to speed) on what has been going on in the comic. Reed is dead. Reed’s dad has taken his place. Ben has a weird face deformity going on. I‘m sure he doesn‘t sweat it too much. Dr. Doom’s son Kristoff has taken Doom’s place. Johnny is apparently getting over a bad relationship. Susan is trying to get over Reed’s death. The Watcher has been demoted to the laughingstock watcher. In spite of these significant changes, things are pretty much the same for the FF. The comic broke ground in that it was one of the first to present the characters as “real people” with personal issues that affected their work. Those personal issues remain an important part of the comic, and hopefully always will.

More about my thoughts on comic books here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/03/thing-about-comic-books.html

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LET’S ROB SAN DIEGO: Now look, folks. I’ve got nothing (major) against Los Angeles. It’s a fine town. But coming from San Diego, I have a few concerns. First there are rumors that the San Diego Chargers will move up to the L.A. area. That would leave San Diego without a football team and the possible demise of Qualcomm Stadium into housing tracts. NOW there’s a rumor that the Comic-Con will be moving to Los Angeles! Please folks, one crime at a time. Give San Diego a bone, here. I know L.A. is trying to be the big “hub” of entertainment, but it’s not fair to say that ALL entertainment has to take place in L.A. Keeping the Comic-Con in San Diego is no big loss to L.A., and based on the Comic-Con’s past success, keeping it in San Diego won’t prevent the fans from coming to visit. My only fear is that somehow, the Comic-Con suits will smell more money by moving to L.A. Their gain will be San Diego’s loss. That could be what the folks in charge of the Chargers are going through as well. But when talking about L.A., anyone who lives in San Diego will tell you- bigger isn’t always better. If they do move to L.A., it will be for the money.

Come to think of it, that’s why I moved to L.A. . .

March musings, part one (I hope)

MEET BARBARA SIPPLE: My music collecting hobby has introduced me to another great artist that I enjoy a lot. Barbie Sipple produced a pair of Christian folk albums from back in the day that make for some beautiful listening. She sings some great songs, and anybody who likes Bert is a friend of mine. You can enjoy a few of her songs here:

http://waxidermy.com/barbara-sipple-barbara-sings-for-life/

http://heavenly-grooves.blogspot.com/search/label/Artist%3A%20Barbie%20Sipple

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WHILE NO ONE WAS WATCHING: On March 6, 2010 at 8 p.m., Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” made its broadcast television debut on ABC Family Channel. You missed it? Don’t feel bad, I almost did, too. If I hadn’t seen it while glancing through the newspaper TV listings, I’m sure I would have missed it. It wasn’t on the news. I didn’t see any ads for it in the paper or on TV (I must qualify this by saying that these days, I seldom spend much time watching TV). In order to understand why this is significant, consider the following:

* When Walt Disney’s “Dumbo” made its broadcast TV premiere, it was preceded by an hour-long special about Walt Disney productions.
* When “Star Wars” made its broadcast TV premiere, it was preceded by a special about the making of the film (this despite the fact that Star Wars had already debuted on home video and on pay cable TV).
* For decades, the annual TV broadcast of “The Wizard of Oz” was a rite of passage for kids & fans, sometimes preceded by specials about the making of the film.
* When “Pinocchio” and “Mary Poppins” made their debuts on the Disney Channel (in the days when it was a “premium” or extra cost cable channel), they each made the front cover of the Disney Channel magazine.
*"Gone With The Wind" was, for several years, almost as big a TV event as “Wizard of Oz.” The film was usually split into two parts over two nights. I recall it being on the front page of the local TV guide.

I bring these things up to try to demonstrate how much TV has changed. This super movie makes its broadcast debut, and everybody says, “Ho-hum! Oh, well. I’ll just rent it on Netflix.” It’s a far cry from the days when there were only three networks, and only two of them had a clear signal. Back then, the TV debut of a special film was something to celebrate. Today, the product is so cheap that we not only surround it by commercials, but we interrupt it with a little note at the bottom of the screen promoting another TV show.

Remember when we found out “Who shot J.R.?” My family and I never watched “Dallas,” but the hype around the event was so huge that you couldn’t help but be interested to find out who did it. I recall watching the show for about ten minutes before shutting off the set and going to bed (no muppets, you see). Of course there are plenty of shows today that still carry that “must-see” feeling along, notably “Lost,” “24” and “American Idol.” The difference today is a lot more choices. More shows means more to watch - even if it’s not what you really want to watch. It’s like food. There are thankfully many options for getting food today, even if it isn’t really what you want to eat. And because of this, we tend to take food for granted- even after we’ve had a wonderful meal. It’s hard to appreciate something that’s so readily available, almost like the air we breathe. Sometimes, it takes skill to be thankful.

I’m thankful when something cool comes on TV that I’d like to watch. The problem is that these days, with so many choices, and with the product being treated so cheaply by the stations, that doesn’t happen too often. I was thankful to see “Snow White” make its broadcast debut, but as I zipped through the teeny-bopper commercials and endured all the little “bugs” on the screen, I began to wonder how thankful ABC Family was to be running it, and how thankful everybody else was to be seeing it.

More about this fabulous film here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/snow-white-and-seven-dwarfs.html

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WHY HAS THE MUSIC STOPPED?: This partial post from Dartman sums up perfectly everything I could say about the subject:

In case you haven't heard, MTV took the "Music Television" out of their name last week. It makes what most of the world has known for years official: MTV is no longer a music channel. It's sad and very depressing. When MTV first hit the airwaves, it was a revolution and a phenomenon. It was very similar to the first wave of Rock and Roll back in the 50s. Kids loved it and parents hated it. It gave rise to a new form of musician and started a whole new era of music. Then, somewhere along the way, it became home to a bunch of really sophomoric programs that had nothing to do with music. . .Today's youth and all future generations have no clue just how great MTV once was. MTV has become the rebel that became part of the establishment when the sound of money clinked in their ear.

http://dartmansworldofwonder.blogspot.com/2010/03/music-television-rip.html

Just one P.S.: There are an awful lot of talented musicians that I never would have heard of if they had not been on MTV. Today, I don’t know of another venue that could present those artists to such a wide audience. The music industry is, sadly, very fragmented. Everyone seems to “already know” who they like, and while people might be willing to listen to new artists that aren't on the radio. . .there’s really no good way for them to actually do it. Not anymore.

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NO HAIR? DON'T CARE: Here's a recent column from friend Steve Lambert. I am not, as he is, one of those who has been given the gift of a bald head, but after you read his words, I'm not going to be too worried about going bald. Here are some excerpts:

"When it comes to aging's effect on men's hair, there is no hiding. We've all known guys who thought they'd be the exception - that they'd fool Mother Nature with their bad dye jobs, plugs, creepy-looking hairpieces or comb-overs.

"Some joke about it, as Art Garfunkel did (yes, those curly locks are fake) during his recent concert in San Bernardino. Which may be stranger still - "I'm bald, I'm going to cover it up with a bad wig, then tell you all I'm covering it up with a bad wig." Why not just stay bald?

"Telly Savalas did. Michael Jordan did. And if you ask women which version of Sean
Connery they find sexier - the buzzed, confident street cop in "The Untouchables" or the badly-touped submarine captain "The Hunt for Red October," it's not even close."

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/rds_search/ci_14528100?IADID=Search-www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com
　

Valentine for Wonder Woman

Yes, I’m a blogger. Just because I haven’t done it for a month or two, people give up on me. Sad. But at least let me explain what Wonder Woman is doing here.

If you check out the Cinema Cervello blog on a semi regular basis (and please do if you enjoy fun film reviews, along with links to other cool sites), you’ve noticed the “character assassination” game going on. Basically, the idea is to list several popular fictional characters and eliminate the “lesser” ones until “there can be only one.” Readers are invited to cast votes for the character they like the best. So far in the competition, Benjamin Linus from “Lost” has won, managing to win out over the king from “Lord of the Rings,” Han Solo, Commander Adama from “Battlestar Galactica,” Willow from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,“ and Treebeard. (That Treebeard loss really gets to me, man.)

What would happen if we were to do such a thing on this blog? I can see the competition now: Underdog vs. Carolyne Heldman vs. Mister Rogers vs. Meredith Vieira vs. George the Lobster. (Thankfully for both of us, there won’t be such a competition. To paraphrase one of the Wayans brothers, “This is a dictatorship, and I’m Dick.”) But I couldn’t help but thinking, who WOULD be the person/creature best suited to lead all the ragtag fictional characters I love? As I see it, the goal is not necessarily to vote for your favorite person, but for the one you feel would be best able to lead. The one with the most well-rounded set of skills and personality. That’s a lot to ask for when you consider the myriad of different characters to choose from. Not an easy task. Everyone has strengths in many different areas. Nobody’s perfect, even in the “fantasy world.” That may be because in the largest sense, perfection itself is a fantasy. Hang on, I’m getting profound. I need to get back to the pointless point.

My first choice was Superman, knowing that he had the physical, emotional and intellectual strength to conquer just about anybody. (The Hulk may theoretically be stronger, but would you trust him to rule?) But as I thought about the Cinema Cervello competition, and specifically how Willow initially won out over Commander Adama, I had to admit that looks count for something. I had to admit that there was someone who I would rather watch in action than Superman. Someone also physically strong, smart and emotionally strong. And gorgeous. Yep, WW. Not as strong as Superman, but if you’re looking for a well-rounded heroine who is physically strong enough to whip just about any bad guy, it’s hard to top her.

Picture this. You’re a German general in World War 2. You are fighting the enemy on the battlefield. You have plenty of ammunition and grenades at your disposal. An American soldier charges at you. You raise your rifle. BANG! He’s dead. A group of soldiers come at you. Again, your rifle comes to your aid. BANG BANG BANG! Down they fall. Suddenly, you see a tank headed your way. You throw a grenade at it. BOOM! It’s enough to disorient it at least. You keep fighting. Then a half-naked woman wrapped in an American flag runs toward you. “What the. . ?” You drop your rifle and grenade. Even if you’re not overcome with lust, you’re wondering how this is possible. You just don’t expect to see something like this. Not on the battlefield, or anywhere else. You’re stunned just as much as if you had been hit in the face. And before too long, you literally ARE hit in the face by the beautiful woman that you were too shocked by to attack. You fall to the ground, defeated by a weapon that was the last thing in the world you were expecting. If you had never heard of Wonder Woman before, you could not possibly have been prepared for this.

For a time, in the comic books, Wonder Woman was taken out of her traditional costume and put into - well, basically regular clothes. They were nice enough clothes, but it was clearly a bad move! They were trying to make it a more realistic situation, but in this case it didn’t really work and the traditional costume finally won out. I mention this to demonstrate how important the costume is. Without it, you don’t really have the heroine. You know WW immediately by her costume. That German soldier probably wouldn’t have been too impressed by WW had she attacked him while wearing regular army fatigues.

As usual, so much more to write and so little time. Let’s just say that WW is a heroine for everyone, man or woman. And guys, if you’re only interested in her beauty, you’re not looking at her hard enough.

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THE SEARCH FOR ‘THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS’: For me, music collecting is not limited to record collecting, or CD collecting, or mp3 collecting. It includes music that in some cases has never been released commercially. That’s part of the challenge and the fun, of course. Here’s a good example of how something like that can eventually be found.

Back in my grade school days, there was a film series (dang, remember when schools used movie projectors to show movies?) called “The Search for Solutions.” I’m sure we didn’t see the complete series, but we saw some of it, and it included a short music piece that has stuck with me to this day. I filed it away under “you’ll never find that one” for many years. When the Internet came along, I was pleased to find that it at least knew what “Search for Solutions” was. That’s a big plus. Often, the Internet will be pretty much clueless as to a particular short movie that you saw in school. While the series was still in school circulation, I don’t own a projector, and I probably wouldn’t be able to rent them anyway. I can hear the librarian now. “You’re not a teacher, or a student, but you want to rent this film? How do I know you’re not a movie destroyer intent on cutting up this precious masterpiece?”

But in my spare time one day (and incidentally, that’s something that the die-hard music collector is going to need), I did a “Search for Solutions” search again and found out that the music had actually been composed by Lyle Mays and. . .Pat Metheny! It was neat to realize that someone I had heard of composed the music. On Pat’s site, it not only includes a video clip from the series featuring a cute balloonist (there’s something about me and brunettes, I know), but at the end of the clip, we get to hear the music that I heard way back in school. It has taken nearly 30 years for me to hear this music again. That’s how much spare time you’re going to need. And that’s why music collecting - or any hobby - must only be a hobby, and not your whole life. Enjoy the clip.

http://www.patmetheny.com/media.cfm?categoryid=4

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CONAN’S LAST REQUEST: I’m not much of a fan of late night TV. But when I had the chance to catch the last few minutes of Conan O’Brien’s final “Tonight Show”, I had to tune in. I’m not much of a fan of Conan either, but I really like what he said before signing off:

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: Please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism - it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

For the past few weeks, NBC has reminded us of the fact that it (and life) is not fair. It has put the quest for ratings on a higher level than a man’s career. Nothing new there, of course - TV is notorious for dropping shows and people that don’t make the “cut.” Which is probably why so many people have grown cynical about it. What’s the use of doing your very best on a TV show only to have it yanked off the air whenever someone decides they don’t like you? A lot of talented people probably look at the entertainment industry and realize it isn’t for them - because their talents will not be truly appreciated by the people who pay them. Who knows what kind of talent we’re missing out on?

But as he exited the show, Conan asked us not to be cynical. That means a lot. Conan is smart. He realizes that he has been very blessed and chooses to focus on that rather than on his exiting the show. That’s the way it ought to be for all of us when something good has to end. And perhaps most important point of all: When Conan encouraged us to not be cynical and to be kind, it was an indirect way of saying, “Don’t be like NBC,” which is an indirect way of saying, “Don’t be like the world.”

I can’t help but like that.

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ON YOUTUBE: MORE RARE CAROLYNE
A few more seconds of Carolyne Heldman from late 1980s MTV has made it to YouTube. This will have to suffice until the long-awaited “Best of Carolyne” DVD is available sometime in my wildest dreams. Enjoy the clip from MTV of old on my YouTube page in my favorites folder.

　

An early Christmas

I'm lucky enough to live relatively close to my family, but my holiday work schedule has made Christmas hectic for me this year. There's not a lot of time to spare. So I told my family last week that I'd visit them a little early so we could spend some quality time before the hectic holiday, when I probably wouldn't have a lot of time just to hang out with loved ones. Not long after I arrived, my family indicated that they wanted to have Christmas early - as in while I was right there - so that my holiday wouldn't be quite so hectic. I was resistant at first, but you know how it goes, you see those presents. . .well, no, that's not how it goes. It goes that my family went out of their way for me just to make things easier on me. This is a wonderful gift in itself. I am very blessed. Thank you wonderful people so much, I love you.

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CHRISTMAS WITH DANIEL: This has become a favorite post of mine and I look forward to reading it again. I hope you enjoy it:


http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-with-daniel.html

Christmas is where you find it. This Christmas story has nothing to do with the actual holiday – and everything. The story is from episode 1550 of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the classic PBS series. Since Fred Rogers' death, I have collected several episodes of the show (anybody have any really early episodes? Contact me for a trade!). This episode aired earlier this year and hopefully will be rerun for many years to come. That's assuming MRN will stick around. Sadly, many stations have dropped it from their schedule.

Anyway, the story opens with Daniel S. Tiger attending a bass violin festival (long story, folks). During the festival, two of the characters decide to put on a puppet show using bass violin puppets. The play begins with the two bass violin puppets talking to each other – the tall one is the older brother, the short one the younger brother. The older brother decides he doesn't want his younger brother playing second fiddle to him anymore, so he tells him that he is going away to play with his older friends.

“But I want to play with you!” the younger brother cries. “Sorry,” the older replies as he walks (slides?) away from the younger brother. Alone on stage, the younger brother begins to cry. “Boo-hoo! Boo-hoo-hoo!” After a few moments, forgetting that it's only a play, the shy Daniel Tiger walks up to the crying bass violin. “I'll play with you,” he says.

If all we ever do this holiday season is make someone feel that they are not alone, and that we care for them, then we probably will have fulfilled more of the work of Christ than we could ever imagine. But heed a word of warning: it will only work if you meet THEIR needs, not just your own. Don't kid yourself: True love involves bravery. I wish we could always be guaranteed that we would be loved in return. That would certainly make the job easier.

If I were in charge of Heaven, the first rule I would make is, “All right, from now on, nobody will ever be without love again. Everybody will always have someone special to hold them and help them when they need it. Everybody will always be loved.”

This holiday season, I wish for you – and for me – the love of someone very special to fill your heart, whether that someone be a family member, a friend, the Lord, yourself, a fantasy, or even a certain striped tiger.

I'm thankful for each of you who takes time to peek in on this blog & I wish you a very happy holiday season!

Rare Sesame audio

Years before home video recording was possible, there was. . . home audio recording. And it was pretty low-tech (at least for me). It involved putting my tape recorder next to the TV set and recording the sound from the speaker. You had to be quiet so that your voice wouldn’t be recorded on the tape. This was not easy when you are a little kid with other people in the house who you have to tell to shut up. (And worse when those people wouldn’t.) But this was how I recorded many classic shows & clips from way back when. I have had a small collection of Sesame Street-related audio clips that I put onto my own CD. “Sesame Street Rarities” is its official title. Here’s the track list:

Selections from: SESAME STREET CAST ON EVENING AT POPS with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops orchestra, circa 1971

1. Sesame Street theme/ Toy Symphony with Cookie Monster/ I’ve got two
2. ABC-DEF-GHI - Big Bird & the cast
3. Rubber Duckie/ Big Bird conducts/ Song of five/ Sesame St. theme reprise

RARE CLIPS
4. “Yes”- Judy Collins, Biff and Sully
5. Ernie and Bert imagine going their separate ways
6. Maria and Bert’s imaginary helicopter ride
7. “Snooky” (Beautiful Day monster) tries to go through a hoop (incomplete)

8. SESAME STREET FLIES: Audio clips from an episode circa 1982
Big Bird and Poco Loco the parrot talk; “Flying” by Joe Raposo; Music from film about building blocks (incomplete); Big Bird as an airplane; Cartoon- Counting planes on the runway; Grover’s airplane; Marlena, Kermit and Grover; Anything muppets - “Rocket”; Luis’ serenade /Pat the pilot cartoon (incomplete); Big Bird and Maria in a balloon - “I’m flying” song; Bald Eagle film (slightly different dialogue); “Danger” film music of man narrowly missing danger (incomplete); Dark clouds cartoon with scary cats (incomplete, unfortunately!); Pinball count- 12 (incomplete); Big Bird and Maria land.

With my slow connection, it has been impossible to share these tracks with others. Until now. The album is currently available to download on the Sesame Street Block Party site! As you can imagine, the audio quality is often not very good. But it is listenable, and it is a treasure for fans of these skits that are currently unavailable anywhere else.

This project has been a long-time coming due to my inability to share the files myself. But again, Bob at the “Sesame St. block party” Web site has been kind enough to post the files, and my friend Peter has been kind enough to upload the files. So very special thanks go out to Bob and Peter for making it all possible.

You can check out the album at the post below:
http://sesamestreetblockparty.blogspot.com/2009/12/sesame-street-old-school-tv-clips.html

To learn more about Sesame Street‘s appearance with the Boston Pops, click here:
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Evening_at_Pops:_1971

From Sesame Street Unpaved: "According to Danny Epstein, musical coordinator for Sesame Street, when the cast played ["Rubber Duckie"] with the Boston Pops (Big Bird conducted), the musicians were not allowed to squeeze rubber duckies in addition to playing their own instruments unless they were paid extra. Apparently, a rubber duckie was considered to be a second instrument, and each musician was supposed to receive additional pay if they played a second instrument. When it came time for the actual performance, only the percussion players squeezed the ducks. It was determined that the rubber duck was to be considered a percussion instrument."

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UNCENSORED, BUT INCOMPLETE: In my Christmas shopping I came upon a book called “MTV Uncensored.” It is several years old now, but it seemed at first glance to be an excellent history of MTV’s early days. I thumbed through it, and it does seem like a great book, with many great historic photos. But there’s one important element missing. I thumbed through this thing looking for one person, but . . . Nope, I couldn’t find Carolyne Heldman in it anywhere! DANG! Not even her name seemed to be included in the book! This is particularly upsetting when you realize that several other Vjs, including others from the “Carolyne” era, are included in the book. That stinks, man. I hope I’m mistaken, but I really couldn’t find her mentioned in this book which is supposed to be “uncensored.” Phooey.

You know what this reminds me of? You know that person who you knew in high school but who somehow never got their picture taken for the yearbook? It’s like that. I know that person existed, but there’s no photographic proof. Despite the lack of evidence, I know that I am not mistaken in my memories. Yes Virginia, there is a Carolyne Heldman.

Just for revenge, I think we should go over to the Aspen Public Radio site and listen to Carolyne read from one of my favorite books of all time, “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Marjery Williams. There are plenty of other cool readings available at the site, too:
http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/storytime.php

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POPEYE ON GOOGLE: Hey, did you happen to catch Popeye’s appearance on the Google homepage? It’s been a pretty cool month for Google fans - first the Sesame Street muppets, now Popeye! His appearance was in celebration of the birthday of E.C. Segar, the cartoonist who created the legendary sailor. Read all about Popeye here:
http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/04/popeye.html

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ANOTHER YEAR: Sigh. I had a good streak going there, didn’t I? I was posting at least once a week for several weeks. Then it stopped. Life happens, and it pushes blog posting way back on the list of things to do. That's true even as the blog celebrates its anniversary this week. No offense folks, but I hope that the blog will always be pushed back. I enjoy it a lot. . .but it’s not all I enjoy. Among other things are spending time with family and friends and wishing them. . .a very Merry Christmas!

Carolyne update

At last I can update you on the status of Carolyne Heldman. This being the best “unofficial” Carolyne Web page in the world, it is only my duty to do so. I’m glad to report that Carolyne is doing very well, as you can read in this clip from her bio page at Aspen Public Radio:

Carolyne was the Station Manager for the Aspen Skiing Company's television station, Channel 16, producing and directing the award-winning, live morning show, Aspen Today for 3 years. She then returned to radio, hosting the morning show on local radio station KSNO. She left the valley in 2005 and for the past three years, Carolyne has been concentrating on raising her two daughters and teaching yoga. Carolyne is thrilled to be back home in the Roaring Fork Valley.

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/bioPop.php?nick=carolyne
　
So she’s not on MTV, but radio is still cool. Carolyne is hosting a radio show called “Crosscurrents” that you can listen to online at the site below:

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/listen_archive.php?prog=cross

I haven’t heard them all yet, but being a Carolyne fan I will try to find time to enjoy them. As a John Denver fan, I’d recommend the show from October 9 which features an interview with Barry Ehrmann, the producer of a new DVD box set of John Denver's concerts. Very interesting talk about how older footage of John was restored for the current release. Also, Carolyne shares a cool memory of John Denver.

If you’d prefer some shorter clips, Carolyne recently took part in “The Big Read” for Aspen Public Radio. Each week, a different reader would read excerpts from the classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” on the radio. Carolyne joins a prestigious list of readers including John Oates and Robert Wagner. To listen to “The Big Read,” visit the pod cast section of Aspen Public Radio’s Web site:

http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/listen_archive.php?prog=read

In the chance that you haven’t read or seen or listened to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” you may want to do so before listening to Carolyne’s clips, as she gives a summary of the end of the book. And I recommend that book. It’s a classic story that is worth enjoying.
For more about Carolyne Heldman, enjoy my post here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/12/carolyne-heldman.html

For more about John Denver, enjoy my other post here:

http://heroshaven.blogspot.com/2007/02/john-denver.html

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IS SOMETHING GOING ON? Hello? Yes, this is he. Yes, I have noticed the muppets on the Google home page. So what? You mean something is happening this week? Yes, of course, Veterans Day. What? Something else? I’m not sure. It’s not some other holiday, is it? Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away. . .An anniversary? Whose? Not my parents’. I’m not sure what you. . .YOW! 40 YEARS OF SESAME STREET and I haven’t got time to write about it! But luckily, a friend has pointed me to an article on the CNN Web page that sums up how many of us grown-up fans are feeling:

For better or worse, today's preschooler is very different from the 1969 version. And children's television programming simply has to reflect that.

But one thing hasn't changed on "Sesame Street": the unflinchingly genuine attitudes of its residents. For 40 years, they have taught us that sometimes we are going to get hurt, cry and be lonely. They've taught us that there'll also be times when we're downright jovial. All the while, those characters have remained sincere.

We may never see Cookie Monster eat a pipe again, but luckily the memories are preserved on DVD, and in our hearts.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/04/sesame.street.anniversary/?imw=Y

Here’s the posting I left at MuppetCentral forum about the 40th anniversary:

Sesame Street has left a huge impact on my life. Even today, not actively watching the show, I still find myself remembering little skits now and then, and collecting some of the old songs and toys from back in the day. I think it, along with some other notable shows, helped me to grow into the person I am, and I'm very thankful for that. When I draw comics, there's almost always Ernie and Bert and some of the other characters hanging around. In my silly home movies, there they are- Ernie, Bert, Cookie and others. My memories and stories of Sesame St. bring me joy to this day, and probably always will. Here's to their first 40 years. . .and it looks like I'd better brace myself for mine. :)

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AND SPEAKING OF ETHICS: I caused an unintentional controversy when I used some quotes from the Mouseplanet message board in my monorail post last week. It was not my intent to break the rules of the message board, and it was definitely not my intent to misrepresent or insult the posters on the board. I've apologized for my stupidity, but for folks in charge of things that's never enough. What upsets me is how everything worked exactly the opposite of what I wanted. In an effort to reach out to others, I get told that I shouldn’t do it that way - at least not on that board. What they don’t explain is exactly how I should reach out to others. That’s my problem, not theirs. And it is a problem I will be working on.

But I would like to welcome our five new readers. . .

　

One-track minds

This post features three ethical dilemmas that have become known to me within the last few days. I thought I’d share them each with you and then allow you to make your own judgments on what the best course of action should be in each case. One of them involves YouTube, but they all, to some degree, involve YOU.

A while back, I joked that the visitors of Disneyland were being treated like second-class citizens. But little did I know how accurate my joking would become. Case in point: there are plenty of rides at Disneyland that us old-timers wish would return. But what happens when you close a Disneyland ride to everyone but a select few? What happens when a particular ride becomes only available to those who are willing to pay more? I’m sorry to say that has just about become a reality.

It involves the monorail, one of the most unique rides in the park. Back in the day, any guest in Disneyland could board the monorail for a short trip through the park, then out of the park over the parking lot (sigh, remember the parking lot?) and to the Disneyland Hotel. Hotel guests could then exit or enter, and then the monorail would head back into the park where we could get off and resume a day at the park. That’s how it used to be, but I’m sorry to say things have changed. On my recent visits to Disneyland, I’ve been unable to get on the monorail, as it was being used for a “one-way” trip to the hotel, and therefore only meant for hotel guests. I live too close to the park to justify staying in the hotel just so I can ride the monorail. A ride has been effectively closed off for me.

Compare this situation to what is going on at the San Diego Zoo. The elephants have been moved to a different location (check out my flickr post to see a bit of it). So what happened to the old elephant enclosure? Well, part of it is now a VIP area. For more money, you can have a little lunch there and have one of the keepers bring out some animals for you to look at up close. As I was riding the tour bus around that area, the bus driver told us that she had to be quiet as we drove past so that she wouldn’t interrupt whatever was going on in that area. Even the bus drivers are having their rights taken away from them so that the zoo can make a little more money. I think that’s similar to what is going on with the monorail.

I’m hoping that none of this is intentional on the part of Disney- but can we really assume that they never thought people might feel a little inadequate because they couldn’t afford a night at the Disneyland Hotel along with their Disneyland tickets? Can we really assume that no little kid would want to ride the Monorail, only to hear their parent say, “I’m sorry, but we’re not allowed to ride the Monorail?” I understand the policy, but I am frankly disappointed with it. It goes right along with charging people to have their names printed on the mouse ears. Despite the benefits to hotel guests, this policy is creating the "second-class citizens" feeling that I joked about earlier.

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YOUTREACHERY? The Internet was designed to bring information to others. As such, there’s a lot of information out there these days - “too much” as Duran Duran would say. And it’s not just written information, but audio information and video information. YouTube is probably the most popular spot for enjoying “video information.” And while the company seems willing to bend the rules for its viewers, it also seems willing to bend the rules to its own profit.

Here’s part of a great blog posting that sums up “The ethical dilemma that is YouTube“:

I received an interesting e-mail today from someone who had seen a video I posted to YouTube some time ago. It probably was embedded in one of my posts about Soupy Sales, who, sadly, passed away last week. This blog usually gets 200-300 hits per day. On Friday, the number of visitors increased tenfold. That's a tribute to Soupy, of course, that has nothing to do with me.

Anyway, here's the e-mail:
...I have a video that was recorded from television back in 1978......the guest was [someone] I used to work for. Upon [that person's] death, I created a memorial w/photos and such for his family, and also put the interview [into] this. I'd like to put it on YouTube, and have no idea... if I do this, will it be OK? Just a regular guy trying to share this w/the world.....your thoughts? Thanks.

And here's my reply:

YouTube requests that anyone who posts a video on their site be the person who created the video or owns the rights to the video. Everyone ignores this, most especially YouTube itself, which, once you subtract the funny home videos, is an empire built on copyright infringement. Don’t listen to anyone who says “it’s OK,” because it’s not. But YouTube usually looks the other way.

I think many people who post to YouTube, myself included, simply want to share something they have that others might like to see. Legally, it makes no difference whether you post something in order to make money or you’re just looking to share. But reasonable people can draw a distinction between something shared just for the pleasure of doing so… versus something posted in an attempt to capitalize on someone else’s creative work.

YouTube actually sent me an e-mail today about the Soupy video. Incredibly, here's what it said:

"Your video has become popular on YouTube, and you're eligible to apply for the YouTube Partnership Program, which allows you to make money from playbacks of your video.

"Once you're approved, making money from your video is easy. Here's how it works: First sign into your YouTube account. Then, complete the steps outlined [at a web address]. Once you're finished, we'll start placing ads next to your video and pay you a share of the revenue as long as you meet the program requirements. We look forward to adding your video to the YouTube Partnership Program. Thanks and good luck! "

Wow! If the video was mine, I might take them up on their offer. But I won’t do that in this case, because there’s no reason I should profit from something I didn’t create. I’m simply sharing something I like; I’m saying have a look, isn’t this great? Oh, I'll make a few comments, but really, this has nothing to do with me, and to turn it into a source of income would be wildly disrespectful to the memory of Soupy Sales – an entertainer I loved.

- Don

http://www.isntlifeterrible.com/2009/10/ethical-dilemma-that-is-youtube.html

I may hold the record for procrastination when it comes to YouTube videos. I’ve been on the site for years, and have still not posted any of my own vids! That will (I hope) change someday, but issues like this have to give me pause. I obviously have some video clips that I’d love to share that I do not own the copyright to. I doubt if any of them will be popular enough for me to get an e-mail about advertising. But what if they are, and what if I do? Something I thankfully don’t have to worry about yet. Something to file in the back of my mind along with cleaning the place, writing the great American novel, visiting more national parks. . .

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ATTACK OUR EMPLOYEE, GET PAID FOR IT: Back when I worked with the college newspaper, I had to endure a letter from a reader telling me what an idiot I was. That’s part of sharing your ideas sometimes - you have to put up with a lot of idiots who don’t get it. I think most of those who work at newspapers understand this. But what happens when somebody writes something that is critical of a reporter. . .and then that somebody gets paid by the newspaper for doing so? Check out this posting:

The Torrance Daily Breeze ran an unusual advertisement on Sunday. A local condo association bought five pages in the middle of the main news section to deliver a long screed about a bitter power struggle for control of its board.

But that's not what made this ad unusual. It's the fact that the ad singles out for criticism the Breeze reporter who covered the story. The ad's author, Cyd Balque, president of the Scottsdale Townhouses Association, makes repeated references to the reporter, Gene Maddaus. She characterizes his work as sensationalistic and biased.

It is not unusual for someone in the middle of a public controversy to be unhappy with the coverage. It is unusual for a publisher to sell that person an expensive platform ($10,000? $15,000?) to attack the reporter. After all, Balque could have written a letter to the editor. And if the stories were incorrect in some way the paper would have run a correction. On the contrary, the editors ran an editor's note in Sunday's paper saying they stood behind the coverage.

Should the other side in the condo dispute get five pages to vent their concerns? Should other reporters worry about retribution if they take on special interests with deep pockets? What about editorial independence?

http://reporter-g.blogspot.com/2009/10/adversarial-advertorial.html

The ethical dilemma here has to do with the work of the reporters and how that work is perceived by both the reporter and his bosses. I’m sorry to say that many in the newspaper industry consider reporters to be “moneymakers” rather than reporters. They see reporters as helping them make money, not as performing a valuable service. It’s easy to understand how they could “sell out” and allow such an advertisement to be published.

So did the paper do wrong? I think only the reporter himself knows the ultimate answer to that question. Hopefully, the reporter understands where the bosses are coming from, and has no real hard feelings about any of this. On the other hand, if the reporter is upset about it, then we have a big issue. For it doesn’t matter if the advertisement is justified or not - someone is upset. And nobody wants to work for a company that upsets its employees so it can make more money.

Are you listening, Disneyland? YouTube? Torrance Daily Breeze?