World Facts via Peanuts

 

 Whenever trivia pages ask "Did You know that the deepest point on earth is the Mariana Trench?", I always quickly answer "Why YES, I DID know that, actually! Knew it since I was a kid!" And just HOW did I know this? Why, thanks to Charles M Schulz and SNOOPY!

As you may know, a running motif of the 70's Peanuts strips is Snoopy and his attempts at writing the next Great American Novel, often with hilarious results! And while penning the tales of yet another one of his hapless heroes in the Sunday Strip of August 1972, Snoopy told the story of a would-be suitor who, while trying to impress his knowledge upon his fair maiden, only ends up boring her in an early example of mansplaining!    

Our Hero waxes: 

"My love for you is higher than the highest mountain...

 which is Mount Everest which is over twenty-nine thousand feet high. 

My love for you is deeper than the deepest ocean...

which is the Marianas Trench which is over thirty-five thousand feet deep."

before Snoopy sums up succinctly: "My hero is a terrible bore!"

AHAHAHA, Funny writing as usual, but also informative, especially for a kid!

Like I said, it was general knowledge that Mount Everest was the highest point in the world, but a young me was completely fascinated by this "Marianas Trench" that Snoopy wrote about and HAD to look it up in the school library! And who says comics don't teach you things!

PS: always wondered...why did Schulz spell it with an "S" on the end, as "Marianas" instead of Mariana?

Favorite Bands: The 5th Dimension

Let the Sunshine in!!! 5th Dimension in their heyday

  I’ve always loved the 5th Dimension and their easygoing style of Sunshine Pop music- To me they had the same sound that The Carpenters and The Association had, lush arrangements and beautiful harmonies that evoked images of  a dreamy and carefree life in California in the late sixties / early seventies!

  I enjoyed listening to their earlier pop tunes as well as their more soulful later singles, but it wasn’t until 1985, when American Bandstand aired an Anniversary Special that I stood up and really took notice of the awesome vocal group.

  The AB show featuring clips from the many, many artists and groups that appeared on the show during its long television run, and I have to say it was REALLY interesting to see the gamut of groups and styles that had graced the stages of the show over the years.

 So anyway there I was watching the show, and somewhere between Martha & The Vandellas and the O’Jays,  I saw a performance of The 5th Dimension singing “Up, Up and Away”. Now, this was a song I had known practically all my life, and I can even remember watching the Muppets singing it on Sesame Street (!), but this was the first time I really paid attention to it - This is in no small part due to the fact that I was taken aback by how GREAT the group looked performing it! They were outfitted in pretty hip sixties outfits, and Marilyn in particular looked just GORGEOUS in a very sexy mod skirt complete with go-go boots! I remember turning to my friend and exclaiming “Whoa! I never knew the Fifth Dimension were so…COOL!”

  After that, every time I heard one of their songs on the radio, the image of that smooth group I saw on American Bandstand would appear, and I would love their songs more and more! I eventually broke down and purchased “5th Dimension’s Greatest Hits on Earth” , and found I loved all those songs as well!! But what abut their actual back catalog? Well, most of those releases sadly weren't available at the time!

   Happily for me and the multitudes of other 5D fans, in 1999, Buddha Records announced that they would be releasingthe Fifth Dimension albums out on CD, and to put it mildly, I was beside myself! They released Up, Up and Away, The Magic Garden, Age Of Aquarius, Portrait and Stoned Soul Picnic and more, and needless to say, I snatched every one of them up! Thus for the first time, I was treated to the FULL Fifth Dimension experience, and I was blown away, every album was SO GOOD!

   Also around this time, Ed Sullivan released a boxed Set of Music Performances from his infamous show, and I was treated with several terrific songs from the 5D! Besides Up, Up and Away and Age Of Aquarius, I also got to see an incredible performance of “One Less Bell To Answer”...

and a REALLY cute performance of “Wedding Bell Blues”!

 That was it for me- I became a total and true 5th Dimension fan then, (as well as falling head over heels in love with Marilyn McCoo whom I STILL have a mad crush on to this day!)

 I had to have everything I could get my hands on, and I must say that at the time, there seemed to be a lot of 5D stuff out there! I grabbed every Album  I could find on CD, including Up Up and Away, Stoned Soul Picnic., Magic Garden, Age of Aquarius, Portrait, Love's Lines Angles and Rhymes, Individually and Collectively, Living Together, Growing Together, and their awesome "Definitive Collection"! There was another Ed Sullivan DVD collection featuring “Up Up and Away, as well as the 5th Dimension’s OWN Travelling Sunshine Show TV specials on DVD which I had to grab-

My 5th Dimensions CDs and DVDs

I even managed to grab a few of their original vinyl albums to add to my Greatest Hits LP perusing the record shops (and hope to find more!) Got most of them but still missing a few-

With the QUESTLOVE documentary SUMMER of SOUL  (featuring the 5th Dimension along with such luminaries as Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Stevie Wonder) knocking me out, it's rejuvenated my love of the band and I HAD to dig out all those CDs and have been spending all my walks enjoying them!

below: Marilyn and Billy reminisce about the events. Both still look great!

One more I'm taken to the music of my youth and I'm a kid again!

I Love A Gal With A Headband!!

 Caught up a couple of shows and movies this week and was reminded that, among the many things I love, I have a particular weakness for a pretty girl wearing a headband/hairband in her hair, and whether it be someone like sassy Sophie Thatcher in the sci-fi slasher COMPANION (as the robotic made-to-order girlfriend Iris):

…or svelte Dichen Lachman in the cerebral epic SEVERANCE (as the icy and pensive Miss Casey), that headpiece accessory will always be the kryptonite that reduces me to a simpering fool! 

MY! Don't BOTH of them look Fetching as HELL?!!!

Maybe it’s growing up in the 70’s where it seemed EVERY girl I liked was wearing them or (far more likely) the massive crush I had on Scooby Doo’s Daphne, but it’s a look I just LOVE and it was great to see two such examples this week!

PS: Both the film Companion and the Apple+ series Severance are great and are highly recommended!!! Check 'em out, yo!

Sara Varon's “Sweaterweather”

Waaaaaaay back in early 2003 I had picked up the latest issue of THE COMICS JOURNAL because it featured an interview with legendary artist John Romita Sr., but found a bunch of other great things in it as well!

Among the pages was a segment called “On The Boards” which featured a preview of an upcoming graphic novel called “Sweaterweather” by an artist named Sara Varon, and WOW, this really GRABBED my attention with its charming cover and winsome art!!

Drawn in this very innocent style and featuring quirky animals in various scenarios immediately reminded me of children storybooks like Richard Scarry’s Busy World books and the like- I was fascinated and was eager to see more!

The Comics Journal listed the book’s release date as June of that year, and I made a mental note in my head to look out for it…Sadly by June I had not seen anything about it in the local comic story, and over time it completely slipped my mind... Fast forward a good 11 years later, and just this past week I was looking for that Comics Journal to scan some John Romita sketches to post in a facebook group, and when I came across the Sweaterweather article again, it charmed me all over and I knew that THIS TIME, I had to get my hands on it one way or another!!

Going online, it seems that Sara Varon had become quite successful since her Sweaterweather debut- not only did she get a Harvey Award for Sweaterweather, but she boasted a long list of critically acclaimed books including “Robot Dreams” which had gone on to become an animated movie! Whoa!

Looking to see where I could grab a copy of Sweaterweather for myself I saw that since its initial release, it had been re-released with more stories to it, and called “Sweaterweather and Other Short Stories”! 

That sounded great, however it had a new cover and I really, really wanted that original illustration that first piqued my interest (with its car-driving animals and walking snowmen about town), and despite the great deal of the new version, in the end I opted to find a dealer who could get me a copy with the original cover.

WELL, I just got it the other day and, sure enough, it was as charming and sweet as could be and really gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling!  From stories about pie-eating champion Raccoons to simple tales of going to the market to make soup for dinner, the pure innocence of these stories just took me back and made me feel like a kid again!

And that wasn't all- remember the Richard Scarry vibe I got from the initial article? well, Sara's book had lots of things those old Scarry books did, too, with activities like cut-out postcards, paper dolls to play with, and fun lessons on things like beekeeping! SO wonderfully sweet and CHARMING!!!

I can't believe I missed this during its initial release date! NOW, it’s time to make up for that and check out some of Sara Varon’s OTHER books!!!

Another Yard Sale Story: “Soap Story”

 Amid the bizarre (and generally rude!) stories in the pages of the fractured fanzine BABYSUE by LMNOP was this rather charming story about an experience at a garage sale. A very slice of life story which I always think of whenever I see a yard sale sign posted up in the neighborhood. Keep looking for those deals, folks!

SEVERANCE Continues to Enthrall!!!!

 Season Two of the brain-stimulating Apple+ series SEVERANCE is underway and BETTER than EVER! Episode two was just chock filled with compelling scenarios and new ideas, but it was THIS scene with Helena (herself shockingly revealed as the DAUGHTER of the enemy just last season!) that really made the episode for me!!!

 Without giving away any spoilers, the EYES say it ALL! Britt Lower is just FANTASTIC as Helly/Helena, conveying SO MUCH without a single word!!!

This is gonna be a GREAT freakin’ SEASON!!!!!

The Warriors: Hey, That Was Trini!

Whenever I'd see some great movie over the weekend, I'd always talk to my friends in school the following day about it, and I remember gushing incessantly about some urban sci-fi fantasy I'd just seen on cable called The Warriors. Though a heralded classic nowadays, back then it was this little known and very strange movie with carnival-esque gangs fighting each other over turf, murder and revenge in a quasi-futuristic New York all set to the tunes of cool rock n roll music! But it was a hit among us kids, and back then cable showed the same movies over and over so everyone got a chance to see 'em!

Indeed, one of my classmates named Ross had already seen it, and said, "The Warriors? Yeah, it's cool- Gramercy Riffs and Baseball Furies, right? Cyrus and CAN YOU DIG IT?!" 

I agreed and then he added, " I liked the part where the Rogue dude threw the candy bar at Trini from 3-2-1 Contact!" "Eh?" I laughed. What was he talking about?!

In the scene, the Rogues have just killed Cyrus, a huge leader figure in the gang world and have placed the blame on the Warriors. But the heat is coming down on them and the other members are starting to worry.  In front of a newsstand, they discuss their future while helping themselves to the candy there. As they walk off, the girl running the stand says, "Hey, what about the money you owe?" to which the Rogue guy throws the candy at her and yells "FER WHAAATTT!"

A great scene, and I had to laugh, because the girl DID look a LOT like the aforementioned Trini, she  of course one of the three hosts (along with Marc and Lisa) of the PBS science-oriented kids show 3-2-1- Contact! back in the 80's...

I didn't think it was ACTUALLY her, (not that there was really any way I could find out back in those early non-internet years) but always laughed whenever that scene came on and thought of my classmate enjoying the candy fiasco and how funny it would be if it really WAS Trini!

Fast forward to 2025 and for some reason the Warriors crosses my mind and that mystery girl, and I realize that with the power of Google-Fu, I can FINALLY  find out just who she actually is!

Going onto Google, I type in "3-2-1 Contact, Trini" and it immediately comes up with "Trini: Played by Ginny Ortiz". With that info, I open a new window, and, feeling rather foolish, type in: "Ginny Ortiz, The Warriors". I hit 'enter" and...WHADDAYA KNOW:

Holy HECK, It totally WAS Trini running that Newsstand! WHAAAA! Guess my classmate really had an eagle eye for details ...or just really liked 3-2-1 Contact...(or Trini, for that matter!) HAHAHA, This is a mystery I've wondered about for YEARS that has been waiting to be solved! So COOL to find out, YEP, it's HER! Ain't technology grand??

I do think it's funny that in her credits, The Warriors is listed FIRST, and 3-2-1 Contact isn't mentioned at all! Guess her brief appearance is the highlight of her career!

John Byrne's Intricate Artwork: Avengers #189

Have always loved artist John Byrne's attention to details in his ilistrations, and a great example of this is in Avengers #189, depicting bowslinging Avenger Hawkeye's apartment!

 You get it all: the shabbiness of it, the broken windows, the dinky television set (with tinfoil wrapped around the antennae), the pin-up of Wanda over the bed and of course the picture of Falcon with darts in it!!

As a kid I cannot TELL yoy how many hours I spent poring over this and his many other drawings throughout- such fine attention to details, no WONDER he is always regarded as one of the all-time best!!

Paraceratherium: BIG, But Not THAT Big

Somebody uploaded this illustration of prehistoric mammal PARACERATHERIUM, and, to show just how doggone HUGE they were, had drawn a tactical jeep drawn behind it. HOLY TOLEDO, did this image knock me out-this friggin' thing was GINORMOUS, like 3 stories tall!

I  could not BELIEVE an animal had ever been so darn GIGANTIC, and I said to myself, "I have GOT to see photos of the fossil skeletons of this thing! Went online and right away found some...but I have to say, if these exhibits have anything to show, it's that the illustration exaggerated JUST a bit- While still very large, it was CLEARLY more like the height of two adults than the TOWERING depiction on facebook.

Maybe this particular exhibit was smaller than average? Read up to find a more general apporximation of its size, but nope, it seems all details on Paraceratherium show him to be about two and a half humans high.

Still huge, but a bit of a letdown.