Thursday, April 30, 2009

I Live in Interesting Times

Around 6:30 this evening, I was in an indoor parking lot in a fancy building in Beverly Hills. I was waiting for the valet to fetch my car, which they'd apparently parked in Gallup, New Mexico. It took a while.

As I was waiting, I witnessed the following. In a prime parking space about 20 feet from me, there was a very new, very shiny, very expensive Lamborghini. I do not know enough about such vehicles to tell you the model or year but I have a sense it was the top of the line, whatever that is. Admiring it from nearby were two rather attractive young ladies in their early twenties. We shall call them, for the purpose of this anecdote, Thelma and Louise.

After staring at the car, Thelma and Louise had a hurried and whispered discussion and then they went over to the man in charge of the valet parking area. They whispered some things to him, he grinned and nodded in agreement, then he went over to his podium and fetched the key to the Lamborghini. He unlocked it, opened the door and allowed Thelma to get inside.

Thelma promptly removed her shirt, under which there was only Thelma. Louise had pulled out a little digital camera and as Thelma posed behind the wheel, Louise took about six photos. Then Thelma untoplessed herself, hopped out of the car and the valet guy relocked it. The ladies thanked him and scampered off as the attendant returned the key to the rack in his podium.

I was thinking of asking him if I could do that too but then my car arrived.

• Posted at 8:34 PM · LINK

Another Fred Kaplan Article

This one's about what's up with Pakistan. I'm glad Fred understands this stuff because I sure don't.

• Posted at 8:07 PM · LINK

Morning Mail

Got an e-mail this AM from Shane Shellenbarger, who follows this blog and writes me from time to time...

Holy Moley! Imagine my surprise when I went to your blog this morning and saw a photo of Don Newton, Tony Newton (Don's son), David Lee (as The Phantom) and myself as Captain Marvel.

I believe that was the same costume contest at the El Cortez in which John Clark (Another Rainbow/Gladstone and Gemstone) appeared as The Shadow.

It was also the same costume competition in which the actress now known as Brinke Stevens made her convention "debut" in a Vampirella outfit. I took about twenty photos of her then because every guy I knew — some then working on the Vampirella magazine, some not — wanted a pic with her.

Jim Van Hise also wrote me to confirm, as I think I now remember, that the other young man with an "S" on his chest is Don's son. And several folks wrote to mention how much they missed Don. He looks so right in that Superman suit because he was truly one of the good guys.

• Posted at 9:38 AM · LINK

Foto File

Digging once again into my horde of newly-rediscovered photos, we have this one from an early San Diego Comic Con...from back before they called it Comic-Con International. The year is 1973 and we have four folks who entered that year's masquerade. I have no idea who three of these people are but the larger of the two Supermen is a gent who'd been teaching high school art and also doing some drawings for amateur magazines about comics and science-fiction.

A few attempts to crack DC and Marvel to work as a comic illustrator had yielded naught but rejection so he'd set his sights a bit lower. At the time of this con and photo, he'd just sold his first professional work to the smaller, lower-paying Charlton Comics Group. His hope, he told me, was that he'd learn his craft with the Charlton work and become noticed enough to step up to big pay at one of the majors. It took about three years but that's exactly what happened.

He had a pretty good career drawing Batman, Aquaman, Captain Marvel and other popular comics until his untimely death in 1984 at the age of 50. He was a great guy and a great talent and I'm sorry I only got to work once with him. His name was Don Newton. If you'd like to know more about him, there's a whole website devoted to the man and his work.

• Posted at 3:52 AM · LINK

Thursday Morning

I'm beginning to get the feeling that this country is finally going to arrive at some form of Universal Health Care...and all because (a) Arlen Specter got cancer, (b) he couldn't win as a Republican, and (c) Al Franken got 312 votes more than the other guy in a recount.

• Posted at 2:37 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Hey, what's up with Adam West?

• Posted at 1:42 AM · LINK