Leaving the '80s

Man Alone made some good points about leaving the 1980s behind, but I have to disagree with the overall assertion. After all, many of my favorite things were released in the 1980s - many things that, "You could never do now." And that's the key phrase.

Having said that, I get where he's coming from. I certainly don't want to hear or see endless remakes and new takes on proven commodities with just a bankable title attached. AD&D is from the 1980s (and '90s), even though it started in the 1970s, and that's all I need insofar as D&D goes. That was their heyday and they released an awful lot of content (mostly good, but a lot of bad too) during those eras. Were I to play D&D, I would play one of those editions and obviously a lot of people agree.

Although my teenage and young adult phases were in the 1990s, most of what we got then were remakes and revisions of products from the 1980s. I don't want to relive my past, but neither do I want to toss babies out with the bathwater. 

I'm eyeballing kung-fu styles for Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game, for example, and am likely to base them on games from the 1980s when the ninja craze fueled several systems in which Martial Arts Styles were a big deal. And I am not about to entertain notions of "cultural appropriation" nor any other pop-psych nonsense; these are games meant for having fun, and they present a lot of things from a lot of different sources, not just other cultures.

In fact, if you're reading critically, I suppose I am saying that ninja are as much a part of our pop-culture as anyone else's. After all, the popular, American notion of ninja - who they are, what they do, and how they do it - is pretty far removed from their historical counterparts.

I don't need a remake of The Goonies or Ghostbusters, but I still love those (original) movies and they inspire me to do other things. So, I will not be leaving the '80s alone even though I long ago left them behind... and now I'm old.

© The Weirding, 2024

Celebrating 80 Years of Marvel Comics

Marvel's 80th Anniversary

© The Weirding, 2019

Archie Americana: Bronze Age

Archie Americana: Bronze Age

© The Weirding, 2018

Amazing Spider-Man #800 - Moebius Variant

Amazing Spider-Man #800 - Moebius Variant

© The Weirding, 2018

The History of Fruity Yummy Mummy Cereal

I don't know if it's even still listed anywhere, but Rated B used to mention pop-culture as "Americana" because that's the only pop-culture with which I am familiar, so it's largely the only one we covered.  To those ends, we have covered the history of such things as the first black Barbie doll, the history of the banjo, the Bolivian Coca-Colla lawsuit, even Corbin Bernsen's attempt to save the All-American Soapbox Derby.  Over the years, we have largely moved away from such research-intensive posts to focus on comic books, and now music.

However, I love doing those kinds of posts and wish I had time to do more of them.  That's why I love finding posts similar on blogs and sites I follow.  This one comes from Bloody Disgusting, a horror blog which contains a bit of everything from the genre, and gives a great rundown on the history of the Fruity Yummy Mummy cereal - part of the Boo Berry, Count Chocula, and Frankenberry cereal line from General Mills. 

Enjoy, and be sure to subscribe to Bloody Disgusting if you like horror!

© The Weirding, 2017

Lion King, Roger Rabbit Added to National Film Registry

Walt Disney's The Lion King and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? have been added to the National Film Registry as of 2016. The NFR selects films that are at least 10 years old and bear some cultural significance for inclusion into its base of currently 700 classic films. Some other notable 2016 additions include Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, The Decline of Western Civilization, The Breakfast Club, and Thelma and Louise.

The National Film Registry selects 25 titles annually for inclusion, many of which are taken from nominations by the public. Recent years have seen the addition of 1984's Ghostbusters, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and other, modern classics, as well as time-honored films from throughout the age of cinema.

© The Weirding, 2016

Ohio Art Sells Etch a Sketch

Etch-a-Sketch

Ohio Art sold off its Etch a Sketch division to the Canadian toy firm, Spin Master Corp., after shepherding the toy to great heights in American pop-culture. The company purchased the rights to the Etch a Sketch for $25,000 after seeing it at a 1959 toy fair in Germany. It changed the name, and began advertising it on TV. The Etch a Sketch soon became one of the hottest toys in American history.

While a spokesperson for the company called the sale "bittersweet," Ohio Art is a lithography company, and will focus on that - although it has not ended its toy line, entirely. Manufacturing of the Etch-a-Sketch line of toys was moved to China years ago. The Etch-a-Sketch was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998.

© The Weirding, 2016

Yea, Friday!

© The Weirding, 2014

The Weirding Theater Presents White Zombie

No, not the band! This Saturday night at 9:30pm CST, The Weirding Theater Presents watches the 1932 Bela Lugosi movie White Zombie, from which the band got its name. We're not sure why said zombie's heritage was such an issue but let's face it, black zombies just don't sell tickets - even in 1932. The more things change, huh? Sensitive viewers can be assured that racially-inappropriate jokes will be made throughout the viewing. Sensitive zombies probably shouldn't watch at all.

White Zombie officially kicks-off our October-long month o' slashers (we know we did a Devil Flick last week - we were there!) which replaces the "31 Days of Horror Movie Reviews" we've done (with some success, once or twice) the last several years.

So be sure to join us this weekend for The Weirding Theater Presents White Zombie.

© The Weirding, 2014

Cat Replaces Iron in Monopoly

A cat token has replaced the traditional iron playing piece in the boardgame Monopoly. It was chosen by an online poll that took place over the course of a month. Other choices included a helicopter, robot, guitar, and a diamond ring. The diverse panel of participants included people from 120 countries.

Scottie the Dog was the clear favorite of the playing pieces. It and the wheelbarrow were added in the 1950s. The iron was one of the original playing pieces from the 1935 Parker Brothers release. Several other token designs were retired when Scottie debuted, including the lantern, purse, and rocking horse. The Monopoly game has a long history prior to this, derided by some as a propagandist game supporting Communism.

The Cat token received 31% of the online vote.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

RIP, Dick Clark

TV and radio pioneer, Dick Clark, passed away from a massive heart attack in Santa Monica today. He was 82. Clark had been battling a stroke he suffered in 2004 and had not made many public appearances in the last several years. He was famously known for his seeming agelessness.

Clark rose to prominence with American Bandstand in the 1950s. Many credited him for the popularity of rock and roll, thanks largely to this one show. He also served as the host of the New Year's celebration in Times Square for 30 years. Ryan Seacrest has famously taken over that role.

Clark entered a Santa Monica hospital last night for an outpatient procedure, but suffered a heart attack sometime today and attempts at resuscitation failed.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

RIP Thomas Kinkade

An autopsy is scheduled for famed American painter, Thomas Kinkade, following his unexpected death last week. Kinkade was just 54. He died alone at his California home from apparently natural causes.



Kinkade was a known Christian who often painted pictures relating to the Bible, but reports of alcoholism and fraud have emerged.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Today would have been Theodore Seuss Geisel's 108^th birthday, and March 2^nd was adopted as National Read Across America Day because of this. Under pseudonyms - including his most popular, Dr. Seuss - Geisel published over 45 children's books which are still widely read today. Geisel also worked as an illustrator for ad campaigns and a political cartoonist. But he is best known for works as the award-winning Dr. Seuss, such as The Cat in the Hat, Go Dog Go, and Horton Hears a Who. Many of Dr. Seuss' works have been adapted into other forms, including musicals, movies, and TV series and specials.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

Barbie Settles with Beverly Hillbillies Star

Mattel and CBS Consumer Products reached a settlement with actress Donna Douglas, who portrayed Ellie May on the popular TV show Beverly Hillbillies. Douglas sued the companies for producing a Barbie doll in her likeness. The companies involved claimed they had the rights to the character, and thus her likeness as well.

The amount of the settlement was not mentioned. The Beverly Hillbillies ran from 1962 to 1971.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

The Spirit of '43

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Thriller Jacket Fetches $1.8m

The jacket Michael Jackson wore in the classic Thriller video went for $1.8 million at auction. The winning bidder, a Texas commodities trader, alleged the jacket was to be sold with some of the proceeds going to help children's charities. Some of the $1.8m allegedly goes to a California animal reserve, where Michael Jackson's two Bengal tigers now live.

Michael Jackson is remembered by some as one of the first black performers to be shown on MTV. His Thriller album became, and remains, the best-selling album of all time. The long-play video premiere of Thriller was heavily promoted and was critically lauded. It was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards and won three. Thriller was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2009, the first music video to be included.

The glove Michael Jackson wore to the 1983 MTV Video Awards show also became iconic, and was also sold at the auction.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Notable American Deaths

Two notable Americans died recently and I wanted to mention the passing of both:

The first was Jane Russell (1921-Feb.28th, 2011). Russell was Hollywood's It Girl, the sex symbol of her generation, in the 1940s and '50s. She appeared with almost every luminary of her time, including Clark Gable, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and more. But Jane Russell is particularly notable for working with Howard Hughes, who invented the bra specifically to showcase Ms. Russell's... talents.

The other was Harry Wesley Coover, Jr., who was significantly less famous, but no less noteworthy, as Coover invented Super Glue. Much like his great invention, Coover kept hanging on - to the age of 94. Though he held over 450 patents, he discovered Super Glue accidentally and it took years for him to get it to market, where it originally failed. In fact, though Coover did well financially, Super Glue did not make him rich, as it was not successful until after the patents had expired.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Christie, the "First" Black Barbie

Christie

In 1980, Mattel released Black Barbie, which is largely considered the first African-American Barbie -- except that there were two black Barbie dolls preceding it.

In 1967, Colored Francie was merely a Barbie with darker skin; Barbie's head was used unchanged, so Colored Francie lacked African-American features. The connotation -- though politically-correct for the time -- also offended the black community, so Colored Francie was quickly discontinued.

In 1968, Mattel released Christie, which self-proclaimed media "experts" consider the first black Barbie. Christie had coarser synthetic hair than Barbie, as well as facial features specific to African-Americans. Some historians credit this move as bold and empowering, as it was the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Christie was well-accepted, and continued to be popular up to the 1980 release of Black Barbie.

Mattel also released the first Latino Barbie, Teresa, in 1980.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Did Scots Invent the Comic Book?

A new documentary entitled Scotland's amazing Comic Book Heroes claims that The Looking Glass periodical was the first comic book. The first installment of the periodical was released on June 11^th, 1825; the last was published the following year. However, some insist certain characteristics of the magazine founded by John Watson make it the first comic magazine in history. Is a comic no more than the mere inclusion of such phrases as "To be continued..."?

The Looking Glass became The Northern Looking Glass, and it was during this run that experts say it introduced the word balloon. William Heath is the cartoonist who added those three words to a comic strip entitled "This Soldier's Life." Heath moved to London and became one of the most successful caricaturists of his day. He revived The Looking Glass years later, but it quickly folded and William Heath died shortly thereafter.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

'Lost' Detective Comics #27 Proofs Up for Auction

Detective Comics #27 contains the first appearance of the Bat-Man, who would later become the Dark Knight of Gotham. For years, fans assumed the original art for the issue had been lost or destroyed, and it may well have been, but one lucky junker found what may be the only surviving proofs from the issue that introduced the world to Batman.

Mario Sacripante rescued a steam trunk from the curb outside his apartment builduing in 1975. He learned later that Batman artist and creator, Bob Kane, had once lived in the building. The trunk contained the proofs, as well as sketchbooks, and more. All items are up for auction.

A copy of Detective Comics #27 recently sold for over $1 million. These proofs are expected to fetch about $1000 per page, but that price could well skyrocket. At the time of this writing, Internet bidding is closed at $1100. The auction is today.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011