Pop Culture
Lennon used Gibson J-160E guitar for many early Beatles' songs… Lennon and fellow Beatle George Harrison both bought the same style Gibson guitars in 1962 at a music shop in Liverpool for £161, or about $245 at today's exchange rate.…
Stan Lee Is Now The Highest-Grossing Movie Producer Of All Time At Domestic Box Office
…There are four lawn/garden figurines to choose from: Kirk, Kirk & Gorn, Redshirt, or Spock.…
…Paul McCartney says he has given up marijuana after many years of indulgence and now prefers wine or "a nice margarita." …doesn't want to set a bad example for his children and grandchildren…
A guitar George Harrison played at a time when Beatlemania was taking flight… 1963 Mastersound electric guitar went for $490,000… at a New York auction.…
[I wouldn't normally have much to do with the Vlogbrothers, but their silly argument over Batman is sort-of worth slogging through to catch the songified version at the end of this post.]
…So Charlie Hebdo's nationally beloved cartoonists were massacred and yet, [Doonesbury creator Garry] Trudeau thinks its helpful to contextualize their deaths by characterizing them as hate-spewing fanatics. …
"…says she didn’t do the show because Andrew Dice Clay — the character — was an abuser of women and a homophobe.…" [Just like she's always said.]
Gary Dahl who in 1975 invented the Pet Rock died last week at age 78. From the New York Times:
…The bar talk turned to pets, and to the onus of feeding, walking and cleaning up after them.
His pet, Mr. Dahl announced in a flash of bibulous inspiration, caused him no such trouble. The reason?
“I have a pet rock….”
Irwin Hasen, the cartoonist and comic-book artist who drew, and helped create, “Dondi,” the widely syndicated comic strip about a lovable, wide-eyed World War II orphan, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 96. [Quoting New York Times]
Something magical is afoot! Cinderella (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Belle (Whitney Avalon) throw down in the fourth Princess Rap Battle. [Video 2:58]
A typical show opens with a six-canary choir accompanying Mrs. Hansen (on the vibra-harp) in "The Star-Spangled Banner," while an oriole pulls a string that hoists a flag on a tiny pole and a parakeet shinnies to the pole top to pose as an American eagle…Amazingly, Hansen was able to continue putting on his Bible Birds show for 60 years…
"DuckTales," the beloved Disney animated series that originally ran on TV from 1987 to 1990, is getting a reboot. Disney announced on Wednesday it has ordered a new series of globe-spanning adventures starring Uncle Scrooge, his grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and the rest. The new series is expected to premiere on the Disney XD channel in 2017.
"In the wake of Supanova’s announcement that Adam Baldwin would be attending Supanova — and organiser Daniel Zachariou’s statement explaining the decision — a number of high-profile artists and cosplayers have officially announced they will not be attending the show in protest. The Ledger Awards, a non-profit organisation designed to reward the best work done by Australian comic book artists, has announced it is dissolving its sponsorship relationship with Supanova following the decision."
A grainy but tolerable clip of Frank Zappa, performing on the Bicycle, on the Steve Allen Show, 1963.
Had a chance to acquire the complete set of Blondie movies. These ran from Blondie (1938) through Beware of Blondie (1950).
Dagwood was played by Arthur Lake. Blondie was played in the films by Penny Singleton. Lake and Singleton also appeared in a half-hour "Blondie" radio series which ran from 1939 to 1950, airing on CBS, ABC and finally on NBC.
There was a TV series, Blondie, which ran for one season of 26 episodes. Arthur Lake reprised his role as Dagwood. Blondie in the TV series was played by Pamela Britton.
Although Lake had been in film since 1917, the Blondie TV series was his last role.
Pamela Britton went on to play Mrs. Lorelei Brown on the original My Favorite Martian TV series.
Penny Singleton became the voice of Jane Jetson, in the Jetsons animated TV series and specials.
Still pondering whether to acquire the Blondie movies. Would I ever watch them?
21-minute independent Star Trek film. Very nicely done.
"…on Valentine's Day and These 19 People's Hearts are Broken—Read Their Reactions!" (or not)
Posted as a public service announcement.
Chicago-born actress and comedian Nora Dunn, who is one of the few alums of TV’s “Saturday Night Live” based in the Chicago area, has sold her two-bedroom vintage condominium unit in Ukrainian Village for $258,500 and paid $185,000 for a condo unit in Evanston.
...for the first time since its introduction in 1953, Bazooka bubblegum... Not only will... lose its popular red, white and blue colour scheme but its iconic comic strip featuring Bazooka Joe will also be replaced.
The Beatles' audition tape famously rejected by a record executive in 1962 has finally been uncovered after 50 years. … The recording has never been officially released and the sound quality on it is said to be pristine. … [Had they been signed, we would probably never have seen Ringo join.]
[Photos from the con]
A Beatles reunion might be impossible, but music fans may yet get to see Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starkey on stage together, because the Beatles' sons have mooted the idea of starting a band.
Will he never be Forever Alone?
A Brooklyn special education student who won a national essay contest and was made the title character of a Superman comic got his first peek at the book Tuesday.
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