Do you remember Lestoil? Perhaps the cleaning solution made an impression on me because I knew it was made in Holyoke, MA, in a factory on Main Street that had a giant bottle sculpture out front.

As a kid I was always impressed when I discovered products that were made something I knew. I was thrilled whenever Tom Terrific would exclaim, " Holy-oke, Massachusetts, Manfred!" to Manfred the Wonder Dog.

Last year at the Hadley Flea market I picked up a little promotional children's book produced in 1958 and written and illustrated by one Virginia Flint Kuniholm. There's no price on the book so obviously it was a give-away of some sort. the back cover reads "This Lestoil book has washable covers – merely wipe with Lestoil and a damp cloth."

Ah, huh.

Inside are three animal tails in which baby animals save the day by washing something or themselves with Lestoil.

Lestoil is still being made, although I haven't seen it on store shelves in a while. Apparently Clorox just bought the cleaner from Proctor & Gamble, which wanted to get rid of "nonstrategic brands." It's considered suitable for general cleaning and floors. On their Web site, it says nothing about laundry, puppies or igloos.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Animation Sundays






Here's part of a storyboard that I published in an edition of Animato way back when. A Las Vegas-based writer named Christopher Kindred wrote two great pieces on the first Batman animated series for me and was able to get all sort of art from the show courtesy of Paul Dini. Thanks to both of you!

I loved this series as I thought it was doing something that few other animated superhero series ever did: it treated the subject matter with respect and style. When I was at my college p.r. job that I hated I had an odd Mac computer that allowed me to watch television as I worked! So at 4 p.m. each day I usually tuned into a Batman re-run as I churned out some fodder for the press.

I was never a fan of the Hanna-Barbera school of super-heroics. While Space Ghost is great fodder for parody it was a lousy formulaic show as was such tripe as "Super Friends," "Birdman", etc.

The first Batman series cleverly brought to it artistic influences from the Tim Burton films and Frank Miller's Dark Knight as well as the Fleischer "Superman" cartoons. it was an animated superhero show that could appeal to both kids and adults.

Over the years there have been several series that have used the first one as an artistic foundation. And I think it's still the best.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

It was a cute little house – the kind of home you could imagine as a "starter" home for a young couple or a place where an empty nester could go to downsize.

Now it's just going to be another abandoned property.

There have been three fires this week in our area – one on I 91 when a tanker carrying a full load of diesel fuel had an accident and burst into flames. it shut down the highway in both directions for hours and there were deaths. Another tore through a retail complex shutting down five or six businesses.

So what happened on my street, two doors down was small potatoes. It is the kind of thing that consistently plagues us who live in urban areas such as Springfield. A house is abandoned, kids, homeless, drug dealers see an opportunity for a playground, a shelter, or a business location and before you know it there seems to be a fire.

Now the issue will be for the city to make sure this building is secured, the property owners notified and the apparently cumbersome machinery that will determine the ultimate fate of the structure will be set into motion. My guess is that it will stand there to rot until the city takes it for back taxes and then it will be added to the lost of properties the city will try to sell at auction.

Right now it's wide open. We look looked through the broken windows and saw walls covered with graffiti. It has been some one's club house for a while.

It didn't have to burn. If the owner had secured the building after the last tenant, perhaps this could have been avoided, but he didn't.

The owner, according to city records, is Thomas Morrell who resides at 15701 Leather Leaf Lane in Land O Lakes FL. I couldn't find a phone number on line for him or I would have called him. Perhaps I'll try directory information. He should know what he has done to this neighborhood.

It didn't have to burn. If the city had heeded the concerns of neighbors who called the police to roust the kids from there. The police would come, tell the kids to go and that was that. I'm not blaming the police, but did these concerns get transferred to city departments that might do something? The mayor has a new quality of life flex squad but so far no action has been taken.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

I'm doing a little re-formatting of this blogging effort of mine. Despite my best intentions to separate out my life – local stuff, film, animation, the life of a reporter – into several blogs I just can't maintain them all. Therefore while the older blogs will be up for a little while longer, I'm just going to put everything onto one blog – this one – but try to have designated days for the various subjects.

Part of my blog's problem is that is neither fish nor fowl when judged against successful blog. The blogs that receive the most traffic are those that are either about one topic or they reflect the varied viewpoints of a well-known person. This blog reflects the varied views of a non-famous person. Although literally thousands of people read my stuff every week, I do not claim any element of celebrity. I'm just a working class guy doing a job.

But I hate to be tied down to just one topic and therefore on Wednesdays and Sundays, expect posts on animation. There will be a day of the week for movies and the rest will be on local news and comments.

I've held off posting a lot of stuff about animation, especially Fleischer material, because I don't want to post everything that will hopefully be in a book one day. But there's plenty of stuff that I'm going to start scanning and posting. here goes the first Wednesday animation post:

Marjane Satrapi, whose autobiographical novel about the Islamic Revolution, “Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood,” was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated animated film of the same name, will speak at Smith College at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 3.

The lecture will be held at John M. Greene Hall and will be followed by a book sale and signing. It is free and open to the public.

Satrapi’s visit was scheduled in connection with the selection of her book as the 2007 summer reading assignment for incoming students, and it follows the national release of her movie, which received an Oscar nomination for best animated feature film.

The graphic novel was selected because of its simple-but-effective documentation of the growth of a young girl amid the birth of the Islamic Republic. It was the first time incoming Smith students had been assigned a graphic novel to read.

In her story, young Marjane and her family experience the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, which at first seems to be the longed-for beginning of a free and democratic future for their country. With the election of a conservative Islamic government, however, the little girl finds her life changed dramatically as increasing political repression and the restriction of women’s freedom lead her parents to the decision to send Marjane to Austria to complete her education.

Since it was published in 2003, “Persepolis” has gained international popularity. The book was included in Time magazine’s Best Comix of 2003 list and won the Angoulême Coup de Coeur Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.

Satrapi, who lives in Paris, continues to write graphic novels, and writes and illustrates children’s books. “Persepolis” was originally written in French and was translated into English by Satrapi’s husband, Mattias Ripa, and Blake Ferris. The story is continued in “Persepolis 2.”

For information about disability access or to request accommodations, call (413) 585-2407. To request a sign language interpreter specifically, call (413) 585-2071 (voice or TTY) or e-mail ODS@smith.edu. All requests must be made at least 10 days prior to the event.

I'm trying to set up an interview with her for the newspapers, but I've been told that is doubtful. Now I'm willing to bet I'll probably be the only news outlet here to ask for an advance, but... anyway I'm planning to attend the presentation, buy a book and give her one of my mine.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

This week took a toll on me with long days and a lot of writing... therefore little blog activity. I know, I can hear my friends playing the world's smallest violin. I know here I can find "sympathy" in the dictionary...

Anyway, I try not to write too much about national events as what draws people to the newspapers I edit is the local news. I'm sick and tired, though, of what is happening nationally and the media's constant coverage of trivia instead of substance. At this point we're in the third quarter of the presidential election news cycle with all of the truly interesting stories (other candidates, other ideas) having been under-covered, ignored and just plain squeezed out.

Not even did the five-year anniversary of of the Iraq War get the coverage it deserved in the national press. I just laugh at this idea of the press being leftist.

I used to apologize for my beliefs in order to be acceptable to people who think otherwise. Whether it's the grind at work or the sickening slide of this great country to third world status (a debtor nation that imports most of its manufactured goods with foreign investors taking over more and more of he financial infrastructure), I just can't be polite any longer.

This is what I spewed about in my column this week:

It may be great fodder for the radio talk shows and the parade of pundits on television, but I really don't care if Senator Clinton is playing some sort of mind game with Senator Obama about the possibility of picking him to be her running mate, even though he is in the lead. This is not a real issue.

The two Democratic candidates have spoken very little in the past few weeks about the things that really matter to Americans. Instead, we've had Clinton attacking Obama and Obama continuing his hope and change rhetoric. It's just a lot of noise.

It's driven me to consider voting for Ralph Nader.

I keep waiting for one of them to talk about the war in Iraq, the home mortgage crisis, the energy crisis or the decline in the dollar's value. Or how about saying what they would do to re-build New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and how they would keep jobs here in this country.

For me, the issue of jobs is the key to the nation's success. To re-build the middle class, we need good jobs. To have a pathway from poverty, we need jobs.

While doing the research for my book on Springfield, it became more and more apparent to me the city's slow slide to its present state came from the erosion of its manufacturing sector. As early as 1954, when the Indian Motorcycle Company stopped production, the city has lost jobs.

Consider these blows: the closing of the Armory in 1968 followed by the closing of Westinghouse in 1970 and American Bosch in 1986.

With each of these closings the firm middle class in the city became weaker and weaker. How would these well-paying jobs be replaced? With positions at Wal-Mart? McDonald's?

Consider a city like Chicopee when it lost the Uniroyal tire plant. There was not only the loss of jobs from the factory itself, but also the ancillary income that went to retail shops and restaurants.

Without the ability to make a decent wage, how can our standard of living be maintained? How can we fight hunger, infant mortality and the other ravages of poverty?

Mike Dukakis once had a vision when he was governor that Massachusetts would replace its manufacturing jobs with high-tech jobs and the Commonwealth would have an economy split between high tech and service jobs. This was back in the heyday of Digital, Wang and other computer companies. It never happened, did it?

I guess it was a good thing he didn't become president.

We need a diversified job base. We need to reverse our trade deficit by making what we need here, not in China. We need local agriculture. We need local energy development.

Why aren't the candidates talking about these issues? Because it's easier and safer to spout off about stuff that doesn't matter, but makes a great headline in a news cycle.
***
Hey, I got my Social Security statement the other day. Did you get yours?

You know what I mean? That cheery little newsletter that lets you know how much money you're going to get when you retire?

Does it depress you? It did me. Now my wife and I have other retirement accounts, but I have to say that in order to get my maximum benefit, I'll have to work to 70.

I guess 70 is going to be the new 65.

And based on what I'm getting I better get used to the taste of cat food on Ritz! I'll just tell my friends it's pate ! Although Lucky the Wonder Bichon's food looks and smells better than the cat food.
© 2008 Gordon Michael Dobbs

As I get older, I realize that the tag of "liberal" that has applied to me is increasingly in accurate. I'm much more a populist and the one writer who consistently reflects my viewpoint is Jim Hightower, whose column I carry almost every week in three of our four newspapers.

I would like to think that populism could be a bridge between the liberal and conservative religions if both crowds actually gave it a chance.

Jim was in the area last week an naturally the local press, except for me ignored him. He's got a new book out and I know I'm going to pick it up.

Here's the piece I wrote:

Jim Hightower knows what he's going to do with his economic stimulus check he gets in May: he's going to give it to an organization such as the Apollo Alliance that is trying to help the recovery of the middle class.

Hightower is the populist writer whose column appears in most of the weekly newspapers produced by Reminder Publications. The late columnist Molly Ivens once described him as the child of Will Rogers and Mother Jones "mad as hell with a sense of humor."

Hightower's column is seen in newspapers across the country and his radio commentaries are heard on 150 stations. His newsletter "The Hightower Lowdown" is read by 135,000 subscribers. He spent two days in Western Massachusetts last week promoting his eighth book "Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go with the Flow."

On Wednesday evening he spoke at Mount Holyoke College and on Thursday afternoon he appeared at the Springfield offices of the AFL-CIO on Page Boulevard.

Hightower's new book, which he wrote with Susan deMarco, is "pretty uplifting," he told Reminder Publications in an exclusive interview. He said the book tells 50 stories about people who have rebelled against the corporate system and "found new ways to do it and are doing well by doing good."

Among the stories in the book are those of Martin Dunn of Brooklyn, N.Y., a real estate developer who is focusing on housing middle class families and Chris Johnson of Austin, Texas, who started MedSavers pharmacy, catering to people with no health insurance.

Hightower explained the book is divided into three sections dealing with activism in business, politics and life. Each profile has extensive contacts so readers wanting more information can go straight to the subjects of the chapters.

Hightower hopes the books will give people confidence to "step out there" and start something themselves.

He believes the stories are no anomalies, but this kind of grassroots activism is happening all over the nation.

"These are not stories you hear about in the New York Times and the nightly news," he added.

While Hightower isn't pleased with the way corporate media reports news, he said, "Rather than wringing my hands, I'm joining hands with the progressive press."

The recently announced economic stimulus package that will give some Americans $300 and other $600 is "embarrassingly pathetic," Hightower said.

"It's so sad to see [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid negotiate this with Bush," Hightower said.

Hightower said the stimulus package means the nation "will borrow $168 billion from China so we can go to the Wal-Mart and buy stuff made in China."

"It's an economic stimulus for China," he added.

If the government was serious about an economic stimulus, Hightower suggested they start repairing the infrastructure of this country.

"The Democrats and the Republicans have callously and cravenly failed to take care of the national house," he said. "There are trillions of dollars in arrears."

Hightower explained the repair and renovation of bridges, roads and other parts of the infrastructure would provide many jobs and give people necessary job training.

Elected as the Texas Agriculture Commissioner twice, Hightower sees local agricultural efforts as part of the nation's economic recovery. He said that many farmers are barely staying afloat due to policies written to help middlemen.

What Hightower sees as succeeding are "local people who create a good food economy."

Whether it is farmers markets, micro-brews or school systems buying locally grown produce, Hightower said there is "a rebellion against corporate food that is changing the whole food economy."

Even the large food distribution SYSCO is now buying locally grown and made products, he said.

This year's presidential contest has encouraged Hightower who believes the Democratic candidates, under the influence of John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich, are actually "talking about issues that workaday people care about."

He noted the increase in enthusiasm about the process of selecting a candidate from young people and the huge turnout for the Texas primary an election in which both people and caucuses vote.

Despite having a procedure that is "as confused as a goat on Astroturf," Hightower said that at his ward 500 people turned out to vote this year, as opposed to 16 in 2004.

It was a "most encouraging outpouring," he said.

To learn more about Hightower and his new book, log onto www.jimhightower.com.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Wow, am I tired! That book was much more complicated than I thought it would be! I thought I'd have a couple of days of happy lounging, but my butt never hit the couch! Or the movie theater seat! Damn!

Hey, are you old enough to remember when Popular Science et al (the following ad came from Science and Mechanics, the April 1950 edition) was filled with such ads? There were 50,000 ways to make money by getting training in electrical work, radio and television repair, shoe repairs, sharpening saw blades, air conditioning repair, heating installation and much more.



"How to make money with simple cartoons" "Learn meat-cutting" "Learn to mount birds and animals" "Learn watch making, jewelry repair" "Draw Me! Copy this girl and try for $1,200 in prizes"

There seemed to be the attitude that you could learn and then earn your way to a better life back then. I'm sure some of them were doubtful schemes. My favorite involves growing frogs in your backyard for a New Orleans concern that canned frogged legs.Yummy!

Today informercials want you to buy real estate systems to teach you how to buy and sell houses without risking any money. Yeah. The pathways to the middle class seems to have been grown over.

Interestingly enough in the Springfield area there are about 300 positions in the area's precision tooling companies that are going unfilled because there aren't enough trained people for those positioned. The area manufacturers have actually worked in collaboration with area trade school to create programs that would produce a group of young employees to go onto paid apprentice programs.

And I've been told repeatedly there are many jobs in the healthcare field here that go unfilled as well for the same reason.

Where has the drive to want to succeed gone?

I meet young people whose ambition impresses me and who I know will be a success in their chosen field. But then there's the group of kids who hang out at the house next door, smoking those fruit-flavored blunts (yeah) and talking trash. What is their future?

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Sorry, but I took the whole day off from writing yesterday.

My Thursday post elicited four comments, two from my friend Mark Not the Race Car Driver about my point. I'll try to define it better here.

I expect our elected officials to address the issues that are creating our economic mess. I haven't heard much of that from the crop of candidates we had earlier in the year and I don't here it now from the final group. That's my point. They and too many of their supporters are too involved in the dogma of their campaigns because dogma is easy.

Part of the problem is the national media covering these races. They seem more interested in who is going to win than why someone is going to win; that "why" being their positions and solutions.

The top presidential news today is that Obama's unofficial foreign policy advisor quit after it was revealed she called Clinton a "monster." So what? That's news? The Bush Administration announced this week that 63,000 jobs were lost in February, the greatest monthly job loss in five years.

That's news.

From the report on NPR: "These are very weak figures and reinforce fears that the economy is in, or is falling into, a recession," economist Ken Mayland told NPR.

"Mayland, president of Clearview Economics, said losses were heaviest in construction, manufacturing and retail, all consumer-driven industries, suggesting a recession may continue well into 2008."

So why aren't the candidates talking about this? Why aren't they talking about the basic failures of the economic policies of the last 30 years? Because these are difficult issues that challenge the status quo of the corporate control of this country.

America was built on the premise that manufacturing jobs and unions were the gateway to a better life. That premise has been systemically destroyed through the union-busting started by Reagan and the decision to increase profits not through better products and competition, but by shipping jobs overseas where workers can be paid substantially less.

Are the candidates grappling with: The weakened dollar? The energy crisis, real or contrived? The home mortgage fiasco? Spiraling credit card debt and its implications? How to turn around the deficit caused by the war in Iraq? How to build new entry-level jobs in this country that might lead to something other than a promotion to fry machine?

FDR had to put in place a number of programs in place that enraged the Big Money Boys back in the 1930s and he could do so only because the crisis of the Depression had given him the political clout. People were demanding, pleading for positive results. What scares me today is that people seem willing to accept out situation.

That's my point. I don't see our new potential leaders talking about this stuff. And too many of the talking head pundits or the columnists or the talk show hosts – I have to make exceptions for Thom Hartman, Ed Shultz and Rachel Maddow – are talking about these issues. It's easier and a lot more fun to stir the pot with dogma.

At this point I truly believe the country will be sinking further with any of these people in the White House unless the winner grows a spine after the election.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Okay first read this. Now I know folks who think everything is hunky dory won't want to have their faith questioned, but I'm feeling evil. When you're done with that now read this.

What am I thinking? The folks I want to read it, won't. I'm asking you to do so and that's like a double dog dare you. You suspect foul play!

As I've said many times, political belief is religious. You stick with your faith because questioning it causes you to question your own judgement and few people like to do that.

However I had hoped people would question the status quo but we have a group of candidates that seem to be retreads of the same old stuff. McCain wants to keep us in an illegal, immoral and ineffective war. Clinton wants to build a dynasty with the help of the Big Money Boys and Obama really doesn't want to talk much about specifics.

Yipes.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Ever since I introduced Steve Bissette to Cinefest in Syracuse one of our rituals has been to sit down and go through literally a dozen milk crates of movie stills offered by one dealers. Now this habit has been abated by the realization of just what we're going to do with the stills, the appearance or non-appearance of the dealer – a very nice guy who must get tired lugging all of this stuff to shows– and our ability to sit for hours scanning stills.

As the years have passed I find that a couple of hours or so of this activity at a time is about all I can handle before my knees begin to howl, my back aches and my mind wanders. Such are the pains of the collector!

Quite a while back I had periodically posted some of these stills on this blog and since I'm attempting now to blog every day, I thought this could be fun for film fans.

Today's still is from a tawdry but oddly compelling exploitation film, "The Fiend of Dope Island." Subtle, eh? The gentleman shown is Bruce Bennett who by 1959 was reduced to appearing in crap such as this film. Bennett had been in "Mildred Pierce" and "Treasure of Sierra Madre." Hey, everyone has to pay the rent.

Here he plays the fiend who rules a little island with his whip. The film is available from Something Weird Video.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

I've watched the Academy Awards since I was in high school and getting seriously interested in film. Admitting that you actually look forward to the Oscars in some film circles is akin to pulling the hayseeds out of your hair – it's not a sign of sophistication.

The Oscars, as we all know, are tremendously flawed. First, the very concept that one film is actually better than another in a measurable way is pretty ridiculous at the level of "No Country for Old Men" and "Let There be Blood." We all know it's a matter of taste. And winning an Oscar can be a product of a marketing campaign, a political statement or acknowledgement of a long career.

But I watch them out because of what they represent to me personally – a sign of community. In the 1970s it was easy to be into sports or cars, the interests that seemed to be stereotypically linked to young men, but not something like the movies.

When I was going to junior high, high school and college I lived in a small Massachusetts town called Granby. It's the type of place that was close enough to be the target of white flight types from Springfield seeking a "country" lifestyle and yet in the 1970s still small enough not to have its own grocery store.

If you were a kid living on a small farm with obligations especially in the summer, going to the drive-ins or year-round theaters was a rare treat rather than the norm. And your development as a movie fan was definitely held hostage to what kind of programming your local television stations had.

Thankfully WWLP had movie shows presided over by a local uber-fan named Hal Stanton, who ran a lot of classic comedy. And the NBC affiliate in Hartford had a Saturday night horror film show that was lame – its host was a voice over who was only seen through a series of slides! – but showed a ton of Universal horror.

None of my friends were into movies the way I was and when I began a fanzine it wasn't an effort to seek local readers as much as it was to plug into the network of fans who published other 'zines.

I haunted the newsstands for copies of "Variety," various monster magazines, "Sight and Sound," "Films in Review," and "Larry Ivie's Monsters and Heroes." What I couldn't afford I would read as much as I could before I had to leave.

And despite the fact the Oscars wouldn't never have had Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing or Vincent Price as presenters – my interest in horror films manifested itself pretty early – I watched them because they were a mainstream symbol of something that seemed to me to be almost underground: a love of film.

So despite the fact that many many years since then I've groaned at the silly production numbers or wondered why someone has to be near death before they give him or her a special Oscar, I watch them.

Which leads me to this year's winner for best animated feature. In a perfect world the Oscar should go to a film that advances the industry. And while I loved "Ratatouille," it should not have received the award. "Persepolis" should have.

In this case, while "Ratatouille" was an wonderfully animated and realized film that actually had some good laughs, it didn't push animation into any new place and "Persepolis" did so with a story that was a genre-breaker and highly stylized animation that was expertly done.

We need genre-breakers in animation if we ever want to see the medium used to tell different kinds of stories. Hey I love funny animals, but I also love surprises.

As long as I'm posting on animation, let me just say the extended director's cut of "Beowulf" with "violence that couldn't be shown in theaters" is a move worthy of Barnum. The difference as far as I could tell is about a minute of running time and while one minute can be enough time to show an image that packs a nasty punch, I didn't see anything. Did you?

And in the extras, no one refers to animation. The phrase used to described how the film was made was "performance capture." What a crock!

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

So I'm writing the introduction of the Springfield post card history book and I come across this piece I did in '99 for Steve Murphy's late and lamented – at least I lament it – V Mag.

Hey two postings in one day...I think it's my personal best!

When I attended UMass in the mid-Seventies, Bill Cosby was working on his graduate degrees, and the buzz around campus was a legitimate famous guy was indeed walking around just like one of us. I never saw him nor did any of friends, but we kept hearing about sightings down at the tennis courts. It was like my belief in the Loch Ness Monster. I didn't have to see the beast to have faith in the reports I read, and I did believe that Fat Albert himself was dodging the falling bricks from the library like the rest of us.

You just don't expect to see celebrities in your backyard. I don't why people are always confounded to find out that so many famous people have a connection to western Massachusetts. I suppose it's the notion that nothing ever happens in your home town, and all the celebrities must come from Los Angeles or New York.

Here's an example. I was standing in the Montague Bookmill last fall and I noticed a woman who appeared very familiar. When she began to speak I knew who she was...television actress and slut monkey Golden Girl Rue McCalahan. I snuck over to my wife and our friend and furtively told them. We all then peeked and made a determined effort to allow her to buy her used books without gawkers hanging on her move.

I should know better. Famous folks do get their start in the real world. He routinely reports on people such as Uma Thurman, John Shea, Paige Turco, Taj Mahal, Bill Pullman, and even Richard Gere (who attended UMass and dropped out his junior year).

The most interesting Favorite Daughter, in my opinion, is Springfield's own June Foray whose family left their home on Orange Street and traveled to California where she eventually became the voice for Rocky in Rocky and Bullwinkle and a dozen other characters.

But what about those who came before them? Western Massachusetts is practically crawling with connections to famous dead people, and at this time of year, it's appropriate to discuss a few of them.

Some, of course, are tenuous. Springfield has an interesting connection to the great swashbuckler Errol Flynn. Flynn's last girlfriend was indeed a girl. Beverly Aadland was only 15 when she met Flynn. They made a very bad film together, Cuban Rebel Girl, a pro-Castro drive-in epic, and created a lot of nasty headlines before his death in 1959. The western Massachusetts connection? Aadland lived in Springfield in the late Sixties as she pursued a supper club singing career. Although one interviewer believed "a single girl couldn't settle down in a small town Like Springfield," Aadland said that "at my house Springfield swings." Aadland's whereabouts today are not known.

Okay, so that one is not unlike the Six Degree of Kevin Bacon. Here's the real thing.

My good friend Dave Mackie once told me of an illuminating moment in his high school career well over twenty years ago. As he was sitting in a class in the long-gone Classical High in Springfield, he noticed that among the graffiti carved in his ancient desk was a name. "Timothy Leary...1938" read the inscription. Much to Dave's surprise the fact was later confirmed that indeed one of the founders of the counter culture had been a graduate of Classical High.

Many people in Springfield didn't realize Leary's connection with the city until he died and the Union-News dutifully hunted down some of his high school classmates who all had good things to say about him. Unlike Dr. Suess, the most famous Springfield native son, no one in officialdom seems too comfortable with Leary's legacy and there's no talk of a Leary Memorial here. Too bad, it might pull more people off of I-91 than an IMAX theater on the riverfront.

We all know about Emily Dickinson's and Robert Frost's connection to Amherst, but what about William Cullen Bryant, the poet who made his home in Cummington? Or the fact that Moby Dick author Herman Melville was a resident of Pittsfield? While horrormeister H.P. Lovecraft was practically a recluse in his native Providence, a trip to Monson to visit a huge boulder that had been the site of colonial church services gave him inspiration for some of his stories.

Look back into old newspapers from twenty-five years ago and you'll find the Paramount Theater in downtown Springfield had a different name. Known as the "Julia Sanderson Theater," the performing venue had been re-opened and named as a tribute to Twenties and Thirties Broadway and radio star Julia Sanderson who hailed from Springfield. The theater later reverted to its original name.

Next time you're in a video store, check out such classic musicals as Born to Dance, Broadway Melody of 1940 and you'll see another Valley Girl, Eleanor Powell. The beautiful and athletic dancer was a native of Springfield and was a star at MGM. She was married to actor Glenn Ford for a number of years and by the end of her life she turned her energies to religion.

What about dead Presidents? Northampton was home to Calvin Coolidge, the Vermont-born lawyer who was mayor of Northampton, governor of Massachusetts and than president. You can still see his law office door in the same building as Fitzwilly's.

Lawrence O'Brien, Kennedy family supporter, postmaster general, head of the Democratic Party, and commissioner of the National Basketball Association, was another Springfield boy. His father had a tavern where the Springfield Civic Center now stands and he received his law degree from Western New England College.

So cut this story out and carefully fold into your billfold for quick reference the next time some wiseacre from Connecticut or New York yaks about nothing ever happening here. And remember, this list will grow really impressive when in another twenty-five or thirty years some of today's famous western Massachusetts folks head off to the big Happy Valley in the sky.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

It's Monday morning and I haven't blogged for over a week. Conditions at work for the last two weeks have been challenging and coming home and trying to come up something interesting for readers of this blog has been a task I've not taken.

However I'm home this week finishing the Springfield postcard book, so my goal is to blog each day.

I like writing about the media and what goes on because no one in this market does that. I know I question what I do and what my staff does all the time. The pressure of trying to put out newspaper products that are original, more complete and, hopefully, compelling is one that bears down on me all the time.

I just don't want to go through the paces and I see so many of our colleagues/competitors in this market do just that.

For instance, I hate the "man in the street" interviews that have become a staple of television news here. Take any topic, go to the Wal-Mart parking lot, find people who have the fewest teeth and ask them their opinion on a subject they don't know much about. Their answers don't provide any insight. They just fill time. And it's cheap.

That isn't news.

In fact, watching how the majority of television reporters work most of the time – there are exceptions – what people see as "news" on television barely qualifies as such. TV reporters are notorious for arriving late at a story staying for a short length of time and then leaving before the event concludes.

I wonder just what is the point other than providing an advertising vehicle.

Anyway, here's more behind the scenes stuff.
Here's another episode of backstage at the newspaper and why I'm grey and can't find a cure for my stress.

No one in journalism school ever tells young reporters about the need to acquire the ability to wait. Yes, interviewing, note taking and headline writing are all subjects one must master to make it in this business, but waiting is another.

Patience isn't just a virtue in this business, it's a requirement.

You have learn how to make a dozen calls to a dozen people for a dozen stories because writing stories is like trolling for fish. You have to cast your net wide. That's because sometimes the fish ain't biting.

You wait for those call backs, and wait and wait some more. The boss might think you're goofing off, but you're not.

It's always good to have a messy desk in this business to confuse the boss who might come snooping as well as having a couple of notebooks opened to scrawled pages. Rustle the papers, scowl at your notes, rinse and repeat until the supervisor has moved on to torture someone else.

Sincere disclaimer: Reminder Publications honcho Dan Buendo has never done this to me. Really. I've been in this business a long time and have worked for some true beauties. Dan is not among those.

Inevitably the person who calls you back first is the person you need the least. Because you're on the phone with that person you miss the call of the folks you really need. Now it's time for the second round of calls and staying a while in voicemail limbo.

It's rumored that reporters get some sort of karmic dispensation for all of the time we spend in voicemail. I certainly hope so.

A basic rule of thumb is the greatest demand to speak to an elected official about something is correlated with their lack of availability. Sometimes they're not ducking you, but sometimes they are.

And another real world rule is that elected officials basically only want to talk about things that benefit them. So you can't be surprised if they really don't want to comment about some screaming match they had with a city councilor. It's human nature, but as an elected official they are supposed to be accountable and candid about such matters.

That's right, this is "Zen and the Art of Reporting."

Today, I'm dashing out this column in sheer panic, thanks to the Finance Control Board in Springfield gotta make those deadlines, folks. I think I could easily gather up a tar and feather mob out of the reporters who were patiently waiting for the Thursday meeting to start.

Scheduled for 12:30 p.m. for the speak-out portion, the show didn't start until nearly 3 p.m. City Clerk Wayman Lee had the thankless task of conveying the periodic messages to the people waiting for the meeting that it would be conducted in another 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.

Now Ray Hershel of ABC40, the acknowledged dean of the Springfield press corps although perhaps Sy Becker at TV22 could also have that title marshaled up all of his considerable influence and asked the minions if the FCB could give us a reasonable idea of when they would start and if they could talk about the juicy stuff first, such as School Superintendent Joe Burke and how the School Committee seems to think they are a force unto their own.

Even Ray couldn't move them. I thought sending in John "Binky" Baibak of WHYN for a second attempt would only irritate the beast. We would only use Binky in extreme cases.

So we chatted among ourselves, went to lunch and talked more with the folks waiting to speak.

Finally the FCB convened the meeting with a sincere apology from the chair, Christopher Gabrieli.

Now this isn't the first time the FCB has held up a meeting by having a closed-door executive session before the public meeting and I suspect it won't be the last. I just hope they appreciate the test they are giving us.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

The toy Steve Bissette wishes he had when he was five. It's only $300!

For the past five or six years now, I've been going to NYC to cover the Toy Fair as the industry is well represented here in Western Massachusetts. From a reporter's viewpoint it is always a fun but hard day – fun because the subject is interesting and hard as it's necessary to cram a whole lot of walking into one day to see enough of the show to write about it.

The Other Mark M. went with me as the company for which he works was exhibiting at the show. His impressions are over at his blog . It's always great to have some company.

Covering the fair can be overwhelming for a newbie if you don't have the structure of a beat. With thousands of toys the question of focus is always an issue.

Luckily I do have a beat – the local companies – and then another animation and off-beat stuff. This post is at a Bissette-like length, but stay with it. Hopefully you'll find it interesting.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Despite reports the country might be heading into a recession, representatives of local companies exhibiting at the 105th Annual American International Toy Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center all
had about the same thing to say: attendance was good and buyers were placing orders.

The annual event draws over 1,200 exhibitors who show their products and services to over 21,000 toy industry professionals from 94 countries. The show was presented Feb. 17 -20 by the Toy Industry Association, Inc (TIA).

According to a release from the TIA, domestic retail sales of toys generated $22.1 billion in 2007 compared to $22.6 billion in 2006, a decline of only two percent, despite what release described as “difficult economic conditions that plagued the industry in 2007.”

What also was seen as the TIA as a negative factor was the publicity from the recalls of toys manufactured in China.

According to the TIA report prepared by The NPD Group there was an increase in sales of connected Web play toys, such as Webkinz.

“Connected Web play toys, which marry a physical toy with ongoing digital play opportunities via the Internet, is a relatively new phenomenon that we've seen emerge within the toy industry,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “Thanks in large part to the popular Webkinz brand, this type of play is expanding into new categories and across many
properties.”

The local companies exhibiting at the show were Hasbro from East Longmeadow, Janlynn Corporation of Chicopee, Omniglow LLC of Indian Orchard and LEGO Systems, Inc. of Enfield, Conn.

According to the TIA license products accounted for about 27 percent of total toy sales last year. If there was a queen of this year’s Toy Fair it was the Disney television “Hanna Montana.” One could barely walk down the aisles of the Javits Center without encountering Hanna Montana products at every turn.

It was clear that even though some properties might be quite popular as books, comic books, movies or television series, toy manufacturers are still cautious about adding the cost of a license to the production expenses of a toy. The only Harry Potter item this reporter saw was Hasbro’s new Harry Potter version of Clue, set in the Hogwart’s School and using characters from the book.

While the new Batman movie and Speed Racer film was represented in some toys, there was a surprising absence of products from the new Pixar film “Wall E,” while there some interest in the new animated film “Kung Fu Panda.” The new Hulk movie, as well as the up-coming adaptation of the Iron Man comic book, was also the inspiration for several toy lines. If Hanna Montana was the queen of the show, then Indiana Jones was the king. With the release of the new film later this year there were toys lines for the former films as well as the new film.

Another trend at the show was going green. In the pressroom there was more and more information offered on CDs rather than paper, and both the TIA and Hasbro offered its information on reusable zip drives.

“Green” was all over the show. PlanToys, Inc, a firm that makes wooden toys from Thailand, use aging rubberwood trees that otherwise would have been burnt as charcoal. The wood is harvested, kiln-dried and then made into toys
using non-toxic glues and paint.

ImagiPLAY, is a Colorado-based company that is also doing the same as PlanToys – using aged rubberwood trees as the source for wooden toys.

Kapla Toys have a line of wooden construction sets that are made from renewable marine pine trees from the Bourdeaux region of France. The glueless, snapless sets take the place of traditional blocks.

Aurora World, Inc. introduced that was described as the world’s first green plush toy at the show. The fabric used for the furry exterior is made from soybeans while the stuffing is from seedpods of the kapok tree, a
sustainable rainforest tree.

Interestingly there was only one toy manufacturer that this reporter found capitalizing on the recalls of toys made in China with hazardous materials. Channel Craft of Chareroi, Penn. makes a variety of games, games and puzzles
all in the United States and was marketing them as American made.

The world’s largest toy manufacturer, Hasbro, was promoting the anniversaries and new versions of a number of its products. In the busy and colourful showroom near the Javits Center, Hasbro Associate Manager of Public Relations Helen Van Tassel guided this reporter through a maze of Nerf, My Little Pony and G.I. Joes.

The first toy seen in the showroom was the one that made perhaps the largest impression: a computer animated triceratops called Kota big enough for a toddler to sit on him.

Van Tassel noted there are a number of anniversaries being celebrated by the company. The Playskool line is turning 80 this year, Trivia Pursuit and My Little Pony is 25 years old, and Scrabble is now 60 years old.

The Scrabble anniversary edition features a game board with storage for the game pieces as well as curved tile holders to discourage cheating. The entire unit folds up in a convenient carrying case.

Other changes in their established game line include a hush-hush revamping of Clue and a new world edition of Monopoly in which fans are asked to vote the cities that will be included on the fame board. There are details on the voting process at www.monopoly.com and the on-line voting ends Feb. 28. Voters are allowed to nominate a city of their own and in the luxuriously appointed Monopoly bus that was a rolling polling site, this reporter nominated Springfield, the home of Milton Bradley.

A new game called Pictureka! is designed for play by the whole family. It has a deceptively simple premise of finding illustrations on the game board.

Hasbro has a full new line of Star Wars toys including an incredibly detailed light sabre. With the release of the new Indiana Jones movies Hasbro has a new line of toys from that movie that include a Mr. Potato Head in Jonesian gear and a soft whip children can play with to emulate the adventurer’s own bullwhip.

The new Hulk movies as well as the up-coming Iron man film also inspired new toys from the company. The relatively unseen monster from the hit film “Cloverfield” will be seen in gruesome detail in an action figure
that will be available only at the on-line Hasbro store .

I gasped when I saw this Indiana Jones toy: a soft whip with a handle that makes the whipping noise. This doesn't seem, well, appropriate on several levels.

LEGO is also celebrating anniversaries this year. The LEGO brick is now 50 years old and the LEGO mini-figure is now 30 years old. Publicist Marssie Versola said company was continuing its efforts to return to its construction toy roots.

She added that increasing the play value of the LEGO products was also important. The LEGO Agents sets not only have a vehicle to build, but also there is a hero versus villain storyline outlined in a comic strip
for “instant role play action and fun.”

The LEGO Creator line also carries this them of additional play value as each lit can be used to build three different models, she
explained.

LEGO has a limited number of licensed kits this year. It no longer has a Harry Potter license, but has a several Indiana Jones kits for the first time, a Speed Racer line to tie into the live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese cartoon, a SpongeBob Squarepants line and Batman kits that is not based on the new film as its story-line was “too dark,” Versola said.

Versola said the company is continuing with its Star Wars line that was LEGO’s “first and strongest” licensed line. Sales of Star War kits increased last year although there wasn’t a current movie to boost sales.

Licensed items a have proven to be profitable for Chicopee’s Janlynn Corporation, according to the company’s National Sales Manager Catherine Dyjak. The company is well known in the crafting industry for its cross stitch and other adult craft kits and has made a significant mark in the crafts area for children with its lien of Disney-inspired products. Products based the Pixar film “Cars” has proven to be popular, but the kits with images from “Hanna Montana” have sold very well, she said.

One kit has proven to be quite popular is a “Hanna Montana” pillow case kit in which children color a line drawing with special crayons. An adult then can set the colors with an iron. The pillowcases come in party packs designed for parties and sleepovers and Dyjak said the advantage is there is no paint to spill.

“The Disney licenses have worked well for us,” she said.

Overall, the company is seeing an increase in sales of their craft kits for children.

“It’s skyrocketed,” Dyjak said, and noted the children want to participate in crafts the same as their mothers.

Ira Leeman, the president and CEO of Omniglow LLC, the Indian Orchard-based company specializing in chemiluminescent consumer products, said business has been very good.

The company makes a wide variety of novelty items from necklaces and earrings to Halloween items to light sticks to beverage cups.

Except for some Asian companies, Leeman said Omniglow is the sole manufacturer of this kind of item. Leeman’s company also makes glow technology products for the medical field.

The company expanded several years ago by buying a party supply company and Omniparty is also doing well Leeman said thanks to the company’s relationship with Amscan, Inc. a firm that owns party stores across the nation.

Speaking on the possibility of a recession, Leeman said his company hasn’t felt it and the nation’s economic problems are more of a banking issue.

He said his company specializes in products for children and children “don’t feel a recession.”

One license that always interests me is the books and characters of Springfield-born Dr. Seuss. There seemed to be little interest in the up-coming animated “Horton Hears a Who,” but McFarlane Toys will be issuing a set of action figures and scenes based on the Chuck Jones animated version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”




One new game company, I Can Do That! From Seattle, Wash. has had much success with a series of games based on Seuss books. Kimberly Pierce, the communications director of the company, explained each game is modeled carefully on a Seuss book. Order Up, Sam is based on “Green Eggs and Ham,” while You to the Rescue is based on “Horton Hears a Who!” The company’s work was been nominated for a Toy of the Year Award.

One of the best aspects of the Toy fair is discovering new products from smaller manufacturers. Big Eye Dummies, a line of goofy-looking, but appealing plush animals, looked as if they had been designed for animation. David Lipson, their creator, said they might wind up one day as animated characters as he is an animator. Among his many credits, the New York-based Lipson was the producer on “The Venture Brothers” and the animation producer on “Saturday Night Live’s TV Funhouse.”

Each of the “dummies” comes with two mouth and eye combinations that attach with magnets to the body of the toy.

A Boston native who grew up going to Newbury Comics, a New England music and pop culture store, Lipson said he always loved toys. When he came up with the concepts, he went out to a local K-Mart and bought a sewing machine. After completing one doll, he showed it around to prospective stores and then had an initial batch of dolls manufactured.

While he isn’t giving up his day job in animation, he said the interest shown by Buyers at the Toy Fair and at a recent gift show was good.

Hands down, though, the oddest thing this reporter saw at the Toy Fair was Tofu the Vegan Zombie. The character, according to the press release, is the star of the film made last year and now being seen in film festivals. The next screening will be at the Florida Film Festival on April 2.

The film features the voice talents of Billy West, who is, according to press materials, is a vegan himself.

Applehead Factory, which is know for their creepy teddy bear line, Teddy Scares, is now producing a seven-inch articulated toy based on the character.


The concept is “Tofu is a friendly zombie, created from a botched experiment in Professor Vost’s laboratory. Lab Money #5, one of Vost’s lab animals, stuffed a block of tofu into the zombie boy’s open skull after accidentally losing the brain. As a result, Tofu only eats vegetables and grains and has no taste for human meat. However if Tofu ever loses his tofu brain, he turns into a dangerous, flash-craving zombie creatures.”

According to the company’s Web site, the animated short, “Zombie Dearest,” has already been seen over 50,000 times.

Check it out yourself at www.tofutheveganzombie.com




© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

It's 6 a.m. and I've got to write two stories before I could to the office and finish another story to be used in the edition that goes to the printer at the end of the day. I've got some sort of cold and frankly wish I could just stay in bed, but at a small newspaper, when one person is sick it can throw everything and everyone off track.

A meeting yesterday of Springfield's Finance Control Board – the state-imposed body that runs the city in many ways – was two and a half hours late. This threw me off in a very big way. i was counting on this story, didn't really have a back-up ( that was probably dumb) so I wasted that time.

These are the things you deal with at a 'paper such as ours. Not looking for sympathy (I know here to find it) but hoping those who might think there's a certain romance or ease with the job will understand that many times the goal is simply be accurate and meet the deadlines.

Here's the column I wrote for this week's paper. After doing serious ones for the past several weeks, I had to do something hopefully a little comical.




Thank goodness as a journalist I'm allowed to be professionally ignorant. I'm able to admit I don't know or understand something, ask some questions and become educated. Here are some of my recent concerns:

Do politicians have a better metabolism than many of us? Do you ever notice that even in severely cold weather, many elected officials never break down and wear an appropriate coat? How about a hat? Gloves? They would rather be fashionable than warm, but perhaps their bodies, through some evolutionary change in response to their office, are warmer.

I heard the new Air Jordans cost $185 a pair and people waited in line at a New York City shoe store up to five days in order to buy a pair. Could someone tell me why these shoes are truly better than lace-up Converse? A $65 pair of New Balance running shoes? How the hell did my generation get along with Keds and P.F. Flyers?

If waterboarding isn't torture, then why doesn't one of its proponents in the Bush administration demonstrate it to show it's no big deal?

If the Massachusetts House leadership doesn't want casino gambling then what are they going to propose as a measure to increase revenues, maintain programs and not raise taxes or fees?

My hair gets messed up by just looking at it in a mirror. How do our local TV anchors always have perfect hair no matter what?

Does anyone really care that Paris Hilton's brother got arrested? Is this what passes as a news story these days? Yes, of course it is!

For that matter, is the "Today" show the most vapid collection of non-stories ever passed off as news?

Why is my dental insurance company debating whether or not to pay a $72 claim for an extraction of a broken tooth? What is the big deal?

Does Mitt Romney really think a Democratic presidency would aid the terrorists? Does he not understand President Bush's actions have brought Islamic terrorism to a nation that didn't have any? Isn't that "aiding" terrorists?

Do you think New York Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg might be thinking twice about an independent and self-financed run for the presidency when he sees how much dough Romney blew to little effect?

Answers to any of the above would be appreciated.

***

As I write this column Congressman Richard Neal was one of the members of Congress to be invited to the signing of the economic stimulus package. Now as I understand it, the bill would allow the federal government to send out checks of at least $300 to almost everyone who is earning a paycheck. People paying income taxes could get $600 per individuals or $1,200 a couple. There are provisions to help businesses and those people who have a sub-prime mortgage for their home.

Of course, if you're a fiscal conservative you might argue the government can't really afford this gesture as we're running a hulking deficit.

Now I know that when I'm doing the dirt sleep, my grandkids will be still struggling with the debts rung up by this measure and by the Iraqi War. I probably shouldn't accept the money, but I'm a weak, weak man. And hey, the Chinese are loaded and willing to lend us the money!

I've been pondering just how I should be spending my money in order so that it would the maximum effect on the economy. I suppose a pile of DVDs wouldn't be so good. Paying on my credit card bill would help me, but would it assist the economy?

How about a trip to Vegas? A box of cigars? A winter fur coat for Lucky the Wonder Bichon? How about I just stash it in the bank?

Choices, choices... what are you going to do with yours?

Boy am I bushed! Monday was a terrible day...lay-out day plus a three hour manager meeting about the budget. Please shoot me now. Hide the sharp objects. Where's the gas pipe?

Tuesday was spent at the Toy Fair in NYC....5:35 a.m. train, work most of the day ( I did take time to see my friend Richard Gordon and to go to the Virgin Megastore) and get back home at 11:35 p.m. Traveling with my buddy The Other Mark M made the day enjoyable. Then I had to be a Chamber of Commerce breakfast for 7:15 a.m.

There's nothing so invigorating as a chamber breakfast! At least the food was good and there was a bit of a story from the mayor's state of the city address. I had a hard time staying awake though. I wish I liked coffee.

I'll post the first installment of Toy Fair stuff tomorrow when my brain stops hurting. I love covering stuff like trade shows as they are the source for interesting trend information. I just wish I could do it in a civilized manner and stay overnight in the city.

Well, at least I can still go. The daily paper here has apparently given up on the Toy Fair despite four local companies that exhibit there. I love the conceit from The Republican's brass that they can still cover local news just fine after slashing their reportorial resources. What's next? A newspaper put together by interns and a handful of editors?

Ah to happier things, such as talking to up and coming comic Lavell Crawford.

Lavell Crawford said that as a child he wanted to be a superhero specifically, Spiderman.

"There were plenty of spiders in my basement, but none of them were radioactive," he recalled with a laugh.

His career goals changed, though, when he listened to a Richard Pryor album for the first time.

"I thought it was incredible," he said.

Crawford will be appearing at the Comedy Connection at the Hu Ke Lau on Feb. 23. Television audiences will recognize him from apperances on "The Tom Joyner Show," "Steve Harvey's Big Time," "BET's Comic View" and from the most recent season of "Last Comic Standing," where he came in second in the comedy competition.

Crawford has been very busy with his first Comedy Central special debuting on Feb. 22 as well as the release of his CD "Takin' a Fat Break." He also recently appeared on the cable television special, "Martin Lawrence Presents the First Amendment."

When he spoke with Reminder Publications last week he was waiting for the limousine to arrive to bring him to a taping of Chelsea Handler's talk show, "Chelsea Lately."

While in college his interest in comedy was strengthened when he saw Sinbad perform live. At first, Crawford thought his road as a performer was as a rapper, but he noticed that his rhymes were comedic and making people laugh.

Crawford said he was lucky to break into the industry in the early 1990s when comedy was booming. It took him five months of calling a local comedy club before they would give him a slot on a open mic night, but he was persistent.

"It was calling me," he said.

Crawford said that appearing on "Last Comic Standing" was a mixed blessing. He wanted to be in the final five comics because of the exposure it would give him, but the actual competition itself " was really bogus." The comics never learned of the percentages of audience approval.

"Television is a strange animal," he said. He noted that he and the other comics had to re-write their material to make sure it met the network's rules, but that dramatic shows are held to a different standard.

Crawford said the show was a "learning experience" for him and proved worth it as he is booked through December. He added that if the producers had wanted a more authentic reality show, they should have put the comics on the road and sent a camera crew to document them.

"They try to control it on television, but you can't control it on the road," he said. "Make it on the road, that's where all the drama starts."

The comic never censors himself, but his comedy is not laden with curses, the n-word or sexual references.

"I don't go overboard," he said.

Crawford would like to do everything in show business. He has written scripts; he is currently promoting and would like to get more acting roles.

Although Crawford formally writes his act, he said, "The stage is my notebook."

"I've written more jokes on stage than off," he said. He explained that he edits material as he works, subtracting and adding to a gag or routine depending upon the audience.

And Crawford explained how a comic has to be ready to exploit whatever happens before an audience. He explained that the Comedy Connection in Boston doesn't have a step onto the stage. The club was packed and Crawford said he was so excited he missed the stage and "fell on my face."

He didn't let that stop him as once he was on stage, he did 40 minutes on his accident.
© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

I’ve been doing research for the Springfield post card book and what has struck me over and over is the very short time period most businesses, institutions, buildings, and trends have for success.

Take Indian Motocycle (not a misspelling) for example. The company started producing motorcycles in 1902 but was done manufacturing their own product by the early 1950s. They were the first American motorcycle and when they had their financial problems in the ‘50s that led to the company’s demise, their only American competition was Harley-Davidson.

Springfield’s Union Station was built in 1926. It replaced a much more elegant building (that’s the postcard you see) which I wish still existed. Bu the mid-1950s, the station was considered a white elephant and the railroad that owned it was seeking a buyer.

The old zoo at Forest Park was deemed in the 1930s as fairly progressive, but by the 1970s it was an embarrassment.

Fifty years, 30 years…those seem like a long time for some folks, but they aren’t really.

I suppose this post is a typical musing from a middle-age guy who understands that at age 53 he has lived most of his life. With my diabetes, I probably have another 20 years if I’m very lucky.

I’m not being morose this morning, just reflecting on the brief opportunities we have for some sort of success – however you measure it. I know this is why I’m trying to get these books out of my head and into reality. That will be one of my measures of success.

***

Over at Marty Langford’s Screen Writing blog, he reveals the news that director John Landis is working on a bio pic on Bill Gaines, the late publisher of the beloved EC Comics and MAD magazine.

I had the opportunity of interviewing Gaines three times – twice in his office and once on the phone. I used the interview in my fanzine, Inertron, back in my college years and then sold it to the Valley Advocate. I then did a piece for the Westfield Evening news and many years later I recycled it for Steve Murphy’s late and lamented V Mag.

I’ll never forget going into his office and seeing a near life-size Kong Kong head mounted as if he was peering through the window. Or the truly sick two photo framed with photos of Fatty Arbuckle and the woman he was alleged to have raped to death (he didn’t).

I was so encouraged by the first interview, that when I had a second session I brought along apiece I had written for MAD. I told Gaines about it and he called in one of the editors who read it silently with no reaction. It was the longest five minutes of my life. He finally said that it was funny, but in was in the style of an established MAD writer. It was. I thought that would get me a sale. He suggested that I try something in my own style.

I asked Gaines once what he thought of Cracked and Sick, two MAD competitors. (I didn’t admit that as a kid I read Cracked much more than MAD. For some reason my mom didn’t like MAD but thought that Cracked was better. I did become a life-long John Severin fan because of it.)

Gaines told me that there would be a point in my life where I would understand how it is to have someone try to capitalize on your hard work.

He was right.

I’ll try to dig out those stories and post the most complete version as soon as I can.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

I've been writing some media pieces for my weekly column and need to stop it as I'm sure many of my readers don't want a steady diet of media criticism or analysis. So this week I'm going to write about my dental insurer's reaction to paying a $72 share of a tooth extraction. We all love insurance companies. The bastards are debating a $72 bill and I had to pay $178!

In any event, I owe Tom Devine a lunch at Jake's as his recent column was some good food for thought and an inspiration for my column below.

Talkers Magazine, the Bible of the talk radio industry, has a very interesting piece in its new issue on how talk show hosts view bloggers and generally it falls along the line if a blogger is critical of the host's point of view than he or she is to be discounted. It's an interesting attitude since talk radio and blogging have much in common: often-times opinion-based writing that fosters an inactive audience.

Frankly, the two mediums should be embracing one another.

Please indulge me, folks a moment for a little shoptalk. Since you're reading this newspaper, I'm assuming you're interested in local news and the health of the local media.

My friend Tom Devine whom many consider to be the father of the Western Massachusetts blogging movement (he said he is demanding a paternity test) has a very interesting post at tommydevine.blogspot.com.

Tom noted the announced demise of the print edition of The Local Buzz, the monthly entertainment and opinion publication published by The Republican's sister company. The paper will be going to a Web edition, which Tom interprets as another nail in the coffin of traditional media.

Tom wrote, "The era of printed publications is over. All newspapers, not just Local Buzz but the New York Times, the Washington Post, all the magazines national and regional, everything, everywhere that is presently distributed by the printed page is going to follow Local Buzz into cyberspace or they are going out of business in less than ten years. There will be no exceptions. There is no third way. All that remains is the deathwatch.

"The old dying media system was extremely elitist. In order to communicate to a mass audience in the pre-internet days you had to have access to expensive technology. You had to have a printing press, or a broadcasting tower, and all the technical know-how, licenses and unionized employees that implied. That meant 99% of the public could not print an article or go on television or on the radio, making those who did have such access, namely the reporters and writers who worked for the people who owned the printing presses and broadcast towers, a power so enormous it was almost invisible."

I understand where Tom is coming from and I embrace much of what he is saying, although I guess I'm part of the elitist system and my thoughts may be tainted. The Web is a powerful communications technology and is clearly the wave of the future. Hey, I blog. This newspaper has a Web site. I'm no Luddite.

Print is not dead, however. As long as the cost of producing magazines, books and newspapers in the traditional hard copy way is profitable they will continue.

And an affordable Web-based portable device that allows for the easy reading of newspapers, books and magazines is also necessary in order for the masses to go electronic is also necessary.

Perhaps I will see that revolution within my lifetime; at best I've another 25 years, more or less.

Before we start burying traditional publishing let's consider some facts:

The Association of American Publishers released its annual estimate of total book sales in the United States for 2007 last May. The report, which uses data from the Bureau of the Census as well as sales data from 81 publishers inclusive of all major book publishing media market holders, estimates that U.S. publishers had net sales of $24.2 billion in 2006 with growth in adult and juvenile books growing 2.9 percent to $8.3 billion, a compound growth rate of 3.7 percent per year since 2002.

An independent study from the Magazine Publisher of America showed the considerable significance magazines play in conveying advertising messages.

In other words, print works.

What is affecting most newspapers is a decline in advertising based on the economic climate of an area and the number of national chain stores, which do not advertise in local media. The other factor is the anticipation of a certain level of profit, which many observers believe the corporations that own big newspapers have set at unreasonably high levels.

The problem with the Web is trying to find a formula in which writers and artists get paid for creating content (one prominent local site depends on recruiting bloggers to work for free) and advertisers get real results so they are willing to pay enough that a site can actually turn a profit.

At this point the issue is far less about the technology and far more the business.

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

Oh that Mr. Martin!

Mark "Not the Race Car Driver" may not be the king of NASCAR, but he's one of "in crowd" of cartoonists doing cool work at Nickelodeon Magazine. Mark is featured in a new all comic edition of the 'zine on newsstands now. Go get it!

For a Wednesday I'm in a pretty burnt frame of mind already. I find that after nearly two years of my present schedule I never feel relaxed or refreshed by a weekend and constantly am trying to play catch-up when it comes to fatigue.

Here's what I published as my column this week. I'd love to have folks tell me what is their line for political correctness – what jokes or comments go too far. What offends you these days?

Where is the line between freedom of expression and hate speech? What is the difference between a racist remark and a joke?

I don't know.

Recently making a reference to the idea that President Bill Clinton was the nation's first "black president" a name given to him by acclaimed author Toni Morrison Sen. Barack Obama said, "Bill Clinton did have an enormous affinity with the African-American community, and still does, and I think that's well-earned."

The presidential candidate then added, "I would have to investigate more of Bill's dancing abilities, you know, some of this other stuff before I accurately judge whether he was in fact a 'brother.'"

It was a joke, but was it appropriate? Would it have been appropriate if a white candidate had said it?

I don't really know, but I bet if someone other than an African-American said it, there would have been a flurry of criticism. I'm also sure there are some African-Americans who are not comfortable with Obama summoning up an old and potentially damaging stereotype.

The lines are so blurred between what is correct and incorrect speech these days. Context seems to be the determining factor who says what at what time to which audience in what way.

And there's no guidebook on context, is there?

The other night when I was covering the fundraiser for Rep. Angelo Puppolo at the Basketball Hall of Fame there were about 40 protesters out on the sidewalk in what was described by them as a "Values Based Counter Rally." As you might know, Puppolo's switching of his vote on the same sex marriage issue vote back in June earned him the wrath of local anti-gay marriage activists who maintain that he betrayed them and their cause.

Puppolo was then publicly branded a "traitor to marriage" in a billboard last year on Interstate 91 comparing him to Judas and Benedict Arnold, no less that was financed by an out-of-state activist group.

The 40 or so folks carried signs, some of which criticized Puppolo by name but others condemning gay marriage. Still others simply attacked homosexuality.

As I walked up to the sidewalk to speak with Mike Franco, one of the leaders of the protest, one young man made sure I saw his placard. It read "Quarantine Queers."

He looked very proud and smiled.

All I could think of was the image of concentration camps.

My conservative friends yes, I actually have some have pointed out to me there is "hate speech" on both sides of the political discourse. They are right. Many people, left and right, have said and written grossly inappropriate things that have not advanced constructive dialogue.

That doesn't excuse what I saw the other night.

Free speech can be like juggling a cactus a thankless exercise that provides plenty of opportunity for pain. It's not easy to listen to points of view that are violently opposed to your own, but in a society such as ours they must not only be tolerated, but protected as well.

I'm willing to say a line should be drawn when an opinion advocates some form of violence and that sign that offended me did just that. That young man should be ashamed, but then again, I'm sure he is comfortable with his beliefs and thinks he has done nothing wrong.

But he has.

Well, I'll be getting some letters.

***

OK, I'm officially cheesed at this lop-sided primary system. Here I was all set to vote for Gov. Bill Richardson, a guy with an impressive set of accomplishments in a variety of government positions plus he comes from the land of my birth, New Mexico but he drops out of the race because he couldn't get the early support he needed to sustain his campaign.

Then I was all set to vote for Sen. John Edwards and he well, you know what has happened there.

This presidential race screams for real electoral reform in which we have a system not based on dollars raised, but on real debate that can result in people making decisions that are not based on who's the last candidate standing.

We need a national primary, financed by the parties, which takes the dollar signs out of the race and allows qualified candidates to be part of the discussion.

Of course too many people are making too much money off of the process now everyone from ad agencies and bumper sticker printers to caterers and hotel owners. The primaries pump millions of dollars into the economy, but they don't truly serve the voters, in my opinion.

I'm wearing a lapel pin now for my new favorite candidate: Popeye the Sailor. I like Popeye's tolerance he never hits first, but when he does hit back he doesn't fool around. He's obviously a green his boat is powered by the wind. He supports local agriculture one word: spinach. He believes in non-traditional families: he's a single adoptive father. He supports the underdog. He's not caught up in trends he's been wearing the same style of clothes since the 1920s. He speaks plainly and has a motto that should be embraced by everyone: "I yam what I yam."

Who am I kidding? Someone like that would never win a single primary.
© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs

I just added a new post to That's Thirty about my two days last week covering the governor. Ah the life of a journalist...it's exciting to trail behind elected officials in elementary schools.




A photo from my book: I'm interviewing the late actor Jonathan Harris, a hell of a nice guy

I have a pile of books here and for those who expressed an interest in getting an autographed copy of "Escape! How Animation Broke into the Mainstream in the 1990s" please send me a check or money order for $25 (priority mail postage is about $5) to G. Michael Dobbs, 17 Spruce St. Springfield, MA 01105.

My publisher apparently asks some of the authors to sign index cards he then inserts into their books when they are requested by customers. I've not been extended this service, so I'll do it the old school way – you send me the money and I'll do a personal inscription.

Now in my best Stan Lee voice: I promise it's a must-have, double-bag collectors item that no true believer can be without!

© 2008 by Gordon Michael Dobbs