Nonagenarian Mouse

Mickey Mouse turned 90 last week.  I noted the occasion but hadn't time to remark on it.

When Mickey was a mere lad of 16 or so, juvenile you see, I kept my stash of semi-forbidden (that is, frowned upon but not outright prohibited) comic books under the bed.  Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and their ducky cousins, Donald, Daisy, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Uncle Scrooge, not neglecting to mention Goofy, were pals of mine.

Fast forward.  I was principal of an elementary school.  I helped the kids celebrate the Mouse's 50th birthday.  Here I sit today scarce comprehending that 40 years have passed since that day.

I can only wish that I could age as gracefully as that little rodent has done.

Holey Socks, Batman! #T

 It's time for new hosiery.

My daughter and her husband, Ann and Mike, gave me the gift of new socks!  They were generous, too, for they not only presented me with the pair pictured above, they gave me a second pair just like them!

  

Batman was introduced to the world on March 30, 1939 in Detective Comics #27.  Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.  His first appearance was as a full-grown man, and the Caped Crusader has been fighting crime ever since!

Vexing and dastardly deeds occurring in Gotham?  Flash the Bat Signal into the night sky!  The Dark Knight and his faithful sidekick, Robin, will surely appear quickly to vanquish the crooks and resolve your problems.

My first introduction to Batman was in the mid-40s.  He had not been around that many years.  The comic book was not considered the greatest of literature in our household, and yet somehow I managed to get acquainted with this fearless crime fighter.

Many years later with children of my own, I watched Adam West and Burt Ward in the "Batman" series on TV.  This program was true to comic book style and I liked it better than I did the subsequent films made for the big screen.  This is what the daughter remembered.  A very thoughtful gift and reminder of another time in my life.

I liked Batman because, unlike other comic-book superheroes, Batman had no special superhuman powers.  He utilized his wealth, ingenuity, physical prowess, wits and skill in his war on criminal activity.  That is, he used the same sort of tools used by his nemeses, and by crooks and politicians everywhere.  Yet he turned his assets to accomplishment of good. 

Donald is Eighty

On June 9, 1934, Donald Fauntleroy Duck made his debut upon the world's big entertainment stage in "The Wise Little Hen."¹

Donald has since appeared in more films than any other Disney character and he is the fifth-most  published comic book character.<sup>2

Donald's distinctive speech was voiced by Clarence Nash3 for fifty years.</sup>

And thus it was, eighty years ago today.








¹The pig character is Peter Pig, not Porky.
²Image and data from Wikipedia
³Clarence Nash 1904-1985

There I Go Again

Sometimes for no good reason except to vent, I find a rant tumbling from the ends of my fingers onto the keyboard. These ravings are often unfiltered, and probably unthought.  But, oh! how good it feels to get it out of my system. So far, so good. But then I find myself sometimes without a blog post for the morrow, and I stick one of these rants in the blog. Forgive me, please. This is one of those. You may choose to save your time and move along to the next post in your reader. That’s okay. (Or “okeh,” as a pedant I once knew insisted.) 

The day of interactive everything. Except of course for face to face interaction with another human being. Even the comic strips have to be interactive. Read the funny, write a comment. Who cares? The cartoonist came up with something, drew a picture, added some dialog, expressed an opinion or an idea, perhaps. I am intelligent enough to get what he is saying, or not, but I don’t need help in interpretation; and besides if I don’t get it I can ask my wife! Further, while the first commenter may address the cartoonist’s notion, the whole thing quickly degenerates into a garbage-flinging, name-calling slime fest completely unrelated to the original idea. Who needs that? 

Interactive television? You must be 1) joking, or 2) totally out of your mind. What exactly do you suppose I care about Miranda Moron’s opinion. If the opinion of the “audience” determines anything to come, forget it.

 How about commenting on the articles on the op-ed pages? Now that is opinion, and your opinion is still your opinion, and though you may be angry with the writer, leave him alone. He’s an idiot, too. If you agree with him, well, you know. What to do? Ignore the stuff, move along. Nothing to be seen here, or if there is, it isn’t edifying.

November 8, 2012

The calendar notation said that this is day number 313 in the year 2012.   Yes, the first thing that came to mind is depicted above.  313 is Donald Duck's license plate number.

Then one observes that 313 is a simple palindrome; and the next step is to factor the number, which is a mental exercise that I have practiced for a long time:  factoring license numbers.  A quick calculation reveals that the number is prime.

There.  Fun, arithmetic lesson, and more of the you-never-know-what-you-will-get on STSTT.

Image: Disney