In honor of Stan"The Man"Lee on his 87th Birthday.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Happy 90th Birthday, Olive Oyl
It was on this date, December 19, 1919, That Elzie Crisler Segar started his new Comic Strip "Thimble Theatre" for King Features Syndicate. At first the strip was a parody of the silent movies of the day and the "stars" of the strip hero Harold Ham Gravy, damsel Olive Oyl and villian Willy Wormwood protrayed different roles each day.
After a few months of this format, Segar started to give his characters personalities and started to tell stories along with the gag-a-day format. Early in 1920 Segar introduced Olive's Brother, Castor Oyl and the stage was set for Thimble Theatre to tell the wild stories of the Oyl Family.
World-wide fame came in 1929 when Segar introduced Popeye the Sailor, the one-eyed, spinach chomping sea dog. He stole the hearts of the readers (and Segar's) and became the central figure in the strip and went on to conquer everything from animated cartoons, radio, TV, comic books and countless toys.
But the strip started with a skinny, pickled-nose "goil" named Olive Oyl. So Happy big 9-0 Olive, thanks to you and E.C. Segar, you gave birth to the icons of the comic strip world Popeye, Swee'pea, J. Wellington Wimpy, The Sea Hag, Eugene the Jeep, Alice the Goon and all the others.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
LoveBugCentral
Last Saturday I posted about Herbie the Love Bug and got an e-mail from Bob Croesus who runs the web-site LoveBugCentral.com . This site is dedicated to the little VW and how Mr. Croesus uses Herbie to help raise awareness for Celiac Dicease, The Burn Foundation, Make A Wish and others.
Operation Herbie volunteers use their love of Herbie to visit sick children in their homes and help collect for non-profit organizations that help with children's diceases.
Check out their great web-site at:
http://www.lovebugcentral.com/
And if you are interested in helping out or would like to contact Mr. Croesus, you can e-mail him at:
kingcroesus@aol.com
Thursday, December 10, 2009
75 years of Alice the Goon
Today is the 75th Anniversary of the first appearance of one of E.C. Segar's original creations, Alice the Goon. Introduced during the classic "Plunder Island" storyline, Alice was the Sea Hag's slave until Popeye fought for her by protecting her child.Alice has always been one of my favorite characters. (If you are a long time follower of this blog, you'll know what I mean.) She was funny and frightening at the same time and so unique that the word "goon" was added to the dictionary.
So Happy Birthday to Alice the Goon from your "son" Alex.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Happy Birthday to the man who gave us Popeye
Elzie Crisler Segar - The Creator of Popeye
He was a master cartoonist and humorist and his timing was impeccable. He created the iconic figures Olive Oyl, J. Wellington Wimpy, Swee'pea, Bluto, The Sea Hag, Eugene the Jeep and Alice the Goon.
He added new words to the English vocabulary and took us to strange new lands that will endure.
Segar was born on this date in 1894 on the banks of the Mississippi River in Chester Il. He was taken from us at a young age from cancer, but through Popeye and rest of the cast of Thimble Theatre, he will live forever!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Remember Pearl Harbor
Please take time today to remember those who lost their lives on this day of infamy.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Herbie
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of one of my favorite movie stars, Herbie the Love Bug. Released in March of 1969, the cute little VW with a soul made his debut and took the world by storm. The film was the highest grosser of the year and only Mary Poppins made more money for Disney than any other of their live action films.
Herbie went on to appear in five more films and become a cultural icon. Back in the 1970's, I remember quite a few Volkswagen's riding around my neighborhood painted like the famous bug. Just recently I saw a newer model VW made up like Herbie on one of our local highways, it put a big smile on my face.
I've always enjoyed these films and have always wanted a little Herbie of my own.
Fun side note about Herbie: the model Volkswagen they used for the movie was a 1963 Sedan model, made the same year I was born.