“I’ll see you in the funny pages!” Bugs Bunny
Happy Groundhog Day! No matter what that rascally woodchuck decides, let’s hope sunshine is on the way.
OK, it’s time for some pop culture. A couple of items came up in the news today that caught my eye. They are both topics that hold special places in my pantheon of personal preferences: movies and the funny pages.
Item #1 is the announcement of the Academy Award nominations today, inflated for 21st century tastes, of course. I admit that I watch only one awards show each year: that glorious train-wreck, the Oscars. I have been known to sit glassy-eyed in front of the tube long into the night as all the rest of my clan have hit the sack and are snoring away. Now that the number of nominees for Best Picture has been doubled, the thought inspires worries that I’ll be staying up even later than usual to discover the soon-to-be-forgotten news of who won what this year. I wonder if they will add twice as many mini-tributes of nominated movies now, and allow space for significant face time for key actors from each flick to the evening as well? Maybe they’ll do the right thing and eliminate any production number nightmares from the proceedings to best keep within the four or so hour format. Honestly, it seems like presidential campaigns are finished faster than the Oscar broadcast, yet I’m still a sucker for them. What can I say? I’m a cinephile from way back. When you get right down to it, I really only have one real complaint about the event - bring back Billy Crystal as the host, please!
On to Item #2. There are folks out there that know of my addiction to the funnies, the comics, the daily cartoons. I was very fortunate as a child to enjoy one of the golden ages of the daily serial: Lil’ Abner, Gasoline Alley, Blondie, Wizard of Id, Beetle Bailey, Steve Canyon, Prince Valiant, Peanuts, and my favorite, Pogo, were just a few of the beautifully drawn, insightful and thought-provoking masterpieces of humor and drama that brightened a few minutes of every day. As my sons were growing up, I got to pass along the joy through some of my favorite funnies as well as new ones, such as Garfield, Fox Trot, The Far Side, Hagar the Horrible, and Jump Start, which were just as deserving of time and attention. For me, one of the truly exciting aspects of gaining stepdaughters has been that I can keep passing along the fun uninterrupted, thanks to Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, and Rhymes with Orange, right up to the arrival of grandchildren and so on, ad infinitum. I do not doubt that in doing so, I have helped improve literacy, imagination, and an ear for dialect in those I have read them to and with, and had a lot of fun along the way.
The item in the news that brought this to mind was a front page article in the Plain Dealer about the 15th anniversary of the end of publication of one of the finest comic strips ever, the short-lived but magnificent Calvin & Hobbes, which is also one of several comic strips to be commemorated by the U.S. Postal Service with its own stamp later this year. Calvin & Hobbes was my sons’ absolute favorite strip - intelligent, thoughtful, self-effacing and artistically brilliant, and by a Northeast Ohio artist to boot! It was a black day in my house when Bill Watterson folded up his tent and quietly crept away, but the article in the PD shed new light for me on the situation. One thing he mentioned that particularly rang true was that he wanted to step away before he became stale and his work suffered in the eyes of his fans. That certainly has been the case in several comic strips over the years. The challenge of when to end such a personal expression is always a tough one, subject to much conjecture and second-guessing. It’s a struggle we all wrestle with to some degree.
Take me, for example. I started writing this weekly journal/blog a little over a year ago, and have enjoyed it immensely, but I recognize that the content has lately become a little less than I had hoped for in terms of interest and impact. It is with the wisdom of Bill Watterson in mind that I have decided to scale back my effort a bit to help strengthen the value of this message to you who choose to read it. Beginning with today’s installment, I am going to cut back to roughly two entries a month, issued as the spirit moves me, and with the value of your time in mind. I welcome suggestions and contributions to the content, and plan to continue to keep in contact with all who are interested in the goings on at The Music Settlement and beyond.
Thanks for your support, and have a great week!
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