tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87776432024-03-19T05:55:46.454+00:00Zoomy's thingZoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.comBlogger3019125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-70903686823000754412024-03-16T11:43:00.000+00:002024-03-16T11:43:43.401+00:00Sophisticated entertainment<div style="text-align: left;"> Here's a favourite scene of mine, from the Beano Comic Library "Triple Trouble", starring Baby-Face Finlayson. Some things never get old - I've been reliably laughing at "thinks he's helping" for the last forty years.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB-FsCc6oa85SUCeujPbjX04-tfdtRj2kckw9eM4XWObGSmTCI2xQ3JQ-ZCv1fRE73BcnO12-qZtTLOWHiYErNlqe0vCs0jFoBKLfqyGldsHG3YOl5rULGjVFISELSq_TIesZfpMgTmnm_wnsxFsxOBYazCCwbdtfKWGuebi4vJ8B3187nm3k/s1990/Thinks%20he's%20helping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1660" data-original-width="1990" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB-FsCc6oa85SUCeujPbjX04-tfdtRj2kckw9eM4XWObGSmTCI2xQ3JQ-ZCv1fRE73BcnO12-qZtTLOWHiYErNlqe0vCs0jFoBKLfqyGldsHG3YOl5rULGjVFISELSq_TIesZfpMgTmnm_wnsxFsxOBYazCCwbdtfKWGuebi4vJ8B3187nm3k/w640-h534/Thinks%20he's%20helping.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Drawn by Henry Davies, probably. And really, you don't see this kind of thing in the Beano any more - even the best strips these days don't cram anywhere near this many gags into every panel!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Of course, there is still <i>some</i> entertainment to be found for the children of today. But if, like me, you spend an unreasonable amount of time watching Alvin and the Chipmunks on kids' TV channels, you get the drawback of seeing a limited number of adverts, over and over again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And the one that really bugs me is the one for Fairy Liquid, with small child saying "Dad, I really want to make a spaceship out of that Fairy Liquid bottle, but it's taking ages to run out!" I have several problems with this. Firstly, the boy is a terrible actor, but that's not his fault. I'm also a terrible actor, and I'm making a point of being nice to such people, in hopes that other people will do the same to me. But secondly, they did this exact same advert back in the mid-nineties or thereabouts, only better. That one was taken from an early reality show where they gave video cameras to members of the public, and so the original scene was at least pretending to be unscripted, and looked a lot more natural. Why remake an old advert, only not nearly as well? Thirdly, Fairy Liquid bottles aren't even the right shape to make spaceships any more. Bring back the old ones, Fairy! And fourthly, I've never understood the whole "it lasts longer" thing that Fairy like to boast about. Whatever washing up liquid I'm using, I just put a squeeze of it into the sink. Who uses extra when they're washing dishes if they think it hasn't adequately cleaned them? Nobody, that's who! Fairy Liquid lasts the exact same length of time as any other, and someone ought to stop them claiming that about it!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'll stop complaining now. And to be fair, I always buy Fairy Liquid. I don't remember the last time I used one of the rival brands that they claim to last longer than.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But the most irksome advert on the kids' TV channels right now is what seems to be a serious attempt to make children want to eat vegetables. "Eat them to defeat them." I'm sure everyone involved in it was doing it very tongue in cheek, but I bet the child actors in that one (better ones than the Fairy boy) get jeered at by their drama-school classmates.</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-75098175856825829332024-03-03T16:13:00.001+00:002024-03-03T16:13:06.323+00:00How to become a superhero comic fan<div style="text-align: left;"> It can be a long and surprisingly circuitous process, you know. I haven't always been into superheroes. I can date the time I became a 'real' superhero comic fan quite exactly, in fact, having recently come into possession of some important historical artifacts [by way of having my brother's stuff in my spare room]. They're the brief DC interlude in my Marvel comics fandom, and I really never give them enough credit.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's the summer of 1990, I'm thirteen going on fourteen, and my comics experience up to this point has consisted mostly of the Beano and similar titles, plus the Transformers comic from Marvel. Transformers had been going since autumn 1984, it had been really fantastic, but by 1990 it was past its peak and declining steadily. I needed another comic to get excited about.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And I came across this one (or maybe one from a month or two earlier) in WHSmith in Boston. Now, I'd read superhero comics here and there before - backup strips in Transformers, occasional other Marvel summer specials and annuals, but nothing regularly. I'm not sure what induced me to buy Superman Monthly - monthly comics still hadn't really caught on in Britain, though I'd been very excited by the short-lived Dragon's Claws from Marvel in 1988/89, and read a few others during Marvel's attempt to sell American-size monthly comics to British readers. That era was well and truly dead by 1990.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Superman, though, was in the larger British comic size, and I think I must have just picked it up in Smiths and liked it. It wasn't just Superman, you see, it also featured the Justice League International, and that was really the selling point...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJwTmZCv3D9HzpDCEmqtKfQfTpsHjX0ZAi6nm11vNz4uLUJhtqY3g_c4sC3TUCjqQ_zOH0ZrCTIRwUtf5XdhiyvpoqWC8z1bN96JoG0thPtY2_2W6b_DdLM1yE0Q-dwLWlPiea5BEpUUPhXcc9ksXbL_MTu1p8yyeK2yE8HuEqCQzw4XidinX/s3507/IMG_20240303_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3507" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJwTmZCv3D9HzpDCEmqtKfQfTpsHjX0ZAi6nm11vNz4uLUJhtqY3g_c4sC3TUCjqQ_zOH0ZrCTIRwUtf5XdhiyvpoqWC8z1bN96JoG0thPtY2_2W6b_DdLM1yE0Q-dwLWlPiea5BEpUUPhXcc9ksXbL_MTu1p8yyeK2yE8HuEqCQzw4XidinX/w452-h640/IMG_20240303_0001.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Millennium is here! This, in fact, was a problem. The death knell for the British tradition of reprinting American superhero comics (which had thrived for the previous couple of decades, although I'd ignored it almost entirely). See, when American comics were self-contained, it was easy to reprint them in Britain like this without causing confusion. But after the success of "Crisis on Infinite Earths", DC and also Marvel had started to do regular 'events' like Millennium, in which lots of different comics would tie into a wider storyline. The publishers of Superman Monthly found themselves with months of side stories to a bigger epic (published in different comics, most of which British readers would never get to see) and had to run lengthy text features explaining what was going on.</div><div><br /></div><div>I didn't really mind that - the Superman stories (John Byrne's rebooting of Superman) were all right. I didn't really appreciate that it was the first ever total rebooting of the character after fifty years of publication, because I didn't know the history. The Justice League, though, I found really intriguing, even though it was almost always referring to and crossing over with other comics that only existed on the other side of the Atlantic. I particularly liked the story with the Suicide Squad, which ran through late 1990.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_VjsAyJvDyrK2ISNAmo7QUpsRpty0hml41glsHbmIfavhcfelkN6ecLd7FKQJzKzq3CQ17FkCZ6ZNJ5V48kfUeGoKwrDx0KPqUFJFTOTAhQ26U2g7e5w8QgXG-UDAExkp0z6PIarKy8lLSx-iToad-TXfL7iY4Vo2AfRG6u7ftmgI2PlXRQl/s3507/IMG_20240303_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3507" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_VjsAyJvDyrK2ISNAmo7QUpsRpty0hml41glsHbmIfavhcfelkN6ecLd7FKQJzKzq3CQ17FkCZ6ZNJ5V48kfUeGoKwrDx0KPqUFJFTOTAhQ26U2g7e5w8QgXG-UDAExkp0z6PIarKy8lLSx-iToad-TXfL7iY4Vo2AfRG6u7ftmgI2PlXRQl/w452-h640/IMG_20240303_0002.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This launched a very brief era of my life in which I would have told you that DC's superhero comics were much better than Marvel's, because DC had lots and lots of different superheroes, whereas Marvel only had a small handful of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know why I thought that. I'd read Spider-Man comics with guest stars and references to multiple heroes. I'd read the Secret Wars sticker album, back in 1986 - lots of heroes in that, easily as many as in the Justice League and Suicide Squad. But I was just left under the impression that DC was a bigger and better universe than Marvel. Maybe I'd have continued thinking that for years, if I hadn't wandered into the book department at the back of Smiths one day...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3uEG_4ex-U4KkPXGXCNLcOa_LSnjc0xeqwrJeYZLzpBRw6ShmtP4vteN-6MtIhe-a04kzAdEQJHFEL3A3m_-Jr3gp1PahcG7MvDNqg1zaD2WXRxWHUQsLw8N1zp4zYEtsF4nc4RgpLxX-CDiRWWPvNBKOS04e1TqGQE-V2kg_xrnItNqz2LJ/s3019/IMG_20240303_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3019" data-original-width="2133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3uEG_4ex-U4KkPXGXCNLcOa_LSnjc0xeqwrJeYZLzpBRw6ShmtP4vteN-6MtIhe-a04kzAdEQJHFEL3A3m_-Jr3gp1PahcG7MvDNqg1zaD2WXRxWHUQsLw8N1zp4zYEtsF4nc4RgpLxX-CDiRWWPvNBKOS04e1TqGQE-V2kg_xrnItNqz2LJ/w452-h640/IMG_20240303_0003.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This book has been read to pieces over the years, as you can see. Actually, that fateful day in Smiths they had two Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe - volumes one and four. It was number four that I picked up, read, and was fascinated by. But having spent a long time poring over its contents, I decided to buy volume one, and then come back and get the later volumes at a later date.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first part of the plan was executed; I never saw another volume on sale anywhere, ever again. Even volume four disappeared from the Smiths shelves by the next time I went in there.</div><div><br /></div><div>But that was okay - I read this book extensively, and became an expert on all Marvel's characters from A to Circus of Crime! Superman and the Justice League were forgotten, and I was a dedicated Marvel fan for years and years to come!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivOUjsHRO_8yWSWRWe-otyTGl6JGy2CFSzav4tAg1EeALO1xXfsDWg3Y2JHCsNUHEEEOgPDwVtCoRCwQqpxMo4gae67Q66f7Gkkf3sBKpMaLPhLzgLO7jem7obTl-1rhEwEexKmQ5B0wv2CMY0RUxPimLGU0KwfcldEgSIH75vJqhSUWlwILs0/s551/Summer%20Special.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="414" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivOUjsHRO_8yWSWRWe-otyTGl6JGy2CFSzav4tAg1EeALO1xXfsDWg3Y2JHCsNUHEEEOgPDwVtCoRCwQqpxMo4gae67Q66f7Gkkf3sBKpMaLPhLzgLO7jem7obTl-1rhEwEexKmQ5B0wv2CMY0RUxPimLGU0KwfcldEgSIH75vJqhSUWlwILs0/s320/Summer%20Special.jpg" width="240" /></a> As I said, I'd read summer specials and things with Marvel heroes in them before. Way back in 1985* there had been this one, with a second story (reprinted from Marvel Team-Up #145 in America, though I didn't know that at the time) that blew my mind and expanded my perception of what a superhero comic could be. It was written by Tony Isabella, drawn by Greg LaRocque, and featured the supervillain Blacklash going through a very bad time.</div><div><br /></div><div>So it was a real delight to see that Blacklash had his own two-page entry in the Official Handbook, documenting that story and others!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">*<i>Can I just point out that I have SCOURED the internet today, trying to confirm that this was the summer special of 1985. I've gone through my comic collection to find ads, and eventually been able to definitively rule out any other publication date it might have been. It definitely couldn't have been 1984, despite what the Spider-Fan website says; that was when the reprinted stories were originally published in America. This was a very very important comic for me, and it's outrageous that the internet contains only scattered, vague and inaccurate documentation of it!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay, rant over. Let's read all about poor Blacklash.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEcSMP7JQnXQHsqRRNugjIBQ-5PaAM8Z0pC3h8KTOnaYccGrDC3FWcWgDsXtKCy8fcYakhzgkutHvFZfURa4wAygPUH5DrC-MCXw5IPQfCY6-HWzJSVoNT1koVarDnwJit5YXM7zG35QhQlQn_V-xv46CCU_18dritRlf84DaPMPXIcXctWyPb/s3008/IMG_20240303_0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3008" data-original-width="2098" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEcSMP7JQnXQHsqRRNugjIBQ-5PaAM8Z0pC3h8KTOnaYccGrDC3FWcWgDsXtKCy8fcYakhzgkutHvFZfURa4wAygPUH5DrC-MCXw5IPQfCY6-HWzJSVoNT1koVarDnwJit5YXM7zG35QhQlQn_V-xv46CCU_18dritRlf84DaPMPXIcXctWyPb/w446-h640/IMG_20240303_0004.jpg" width="446" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloyc07C8o4x3tnQ1HvRYhHOtFK8kBQFlUfnfYv5xG3tIs0L9u0ositiNNvWuGJ8a4JoFTB8wF6tH9YJtk5AKegvabJDomKEDETzU2Gj8yzXZ2DwerKSYF5ws3gj0aXI4QzLXlQXrbWQIkw2ZTQmbd935zdBgLDg8fs-bSpkHd1s0wO9TrOexQ/s3037/IMG_20240303_0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3037" data-original-width="2133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloyc07C8o4x3tnQ1HvRYhHOtFK8kBQFlUfnfYv5xG3tIs0L9u0ositiNNvWuGJ8a4JoFTB8wF6tH9YJtk5AKegvabJDomKEDETzU2Gj8yzXZ2DwerKSYF5ws3gj0aXI4QzLXlQXrbWQIkw2ZTQmbd935zdBgLDg8fs-bSpkHd1s0wO9TrOexQ/w450-h640/IMG_20240303_0005.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>But the one that really intrigued me, somehow, was Alpha Flight. I'm not sure what it was - the Avengers were in the Handbook too, there are more of them, and I'd heard of them before. But Alpha Flight caught my imagination. They do look very cool in these headshots, don't they?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUfpB72SRATjX2ca_PxhnwgcOGjDrvW5P0-C0DSPekHKrcPqMGrNV903fEBpooOUGKjyyN6AJtxTJXApnPZNlUq1WuUsRvlUh0klxNPf7S3DHw4aXOPiqcMOcA3xejysPhYwrUk__Bs0kzSrhGhMjTYwEmInjkhDUcqLFwlB4qJ6UfNkKx6-m/s3019/IMG_20240303_0006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3019" data-original-width="2133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUfpB72SRATjX2ca_PxhnwgcOGjDrvW5P0-C0DSPekHKrcPqMGrNV903fEBpooOUGKjyyN6AJtxTJXApnPZNlUq1WuUsRvlUh0klxNPf7S3DHw4aXOPiqcMOcA3xejysPhYwrUk__Bs0kzSrhGhMjTYwEmInjkhDUcqLFwlB4qJ6UfNkKx6-m/w452-h640/IMG_20240303_0006.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>And so in the summer of 1991, when I explored the world of imported American comics by mail order - I'd seen classified ads for comic shops ever since the mid-eighties, but only now decided to send off for a catalogue from one - it was the latest Alpha Flight that I bought. Starting with #100, I became a regular reader, although to be fair that era wasn't much good. It did prompt me to find back issues in an attempt to find the lineup from the handbook (five or six years out of date by this point), which led to me discovering the glorious Bill Mantlo days of the title. From that point onwards, I was hooked on superhero comics, and dread to think how much money and time I've dedicated to finding and reading them ever since!<div><br /></div><div>And it might have been different if those Official Handbooks hadn't been on sale in Smiths in Boston. Without them, I might have become a DC fan and dismissed Marvel for years! Or I might have given up on superheroes altogether, because let's face it, those Superman and Justice League comics were mediocre at best. Maybe I would have found another hobby to waste my life on...<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-74309043173851363832024-03-02T07:38:00.002+00:002024-03-02T07:39:57.526+00:00Weak links<div style="text-align: left;"> As I've mentioned before, I like to see in Blogger's stats that someone has been looking at old blog posts of mine that I hadn't thought about for years - such as <a href="https://zoomy.blogspot.com/2005/11/i-am-weakest-link.html">this one</a> in which I start by mentioning The Weakest Link and move on to apologising for insulting the creator of Mullein Fields, a webcomic that has long since disappeared from the internet.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is why the Wayback Machine is the most important thing in the world. When you see an old blog post that links to a disappeared page with the cryptic comment "this is me and my brother when we were that age", you can usually still rediscover exactly what it was talking about just by researching the web archive. Here it is:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.mullein-fields.org/archives/m20030418.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkN9zdGFdu0OAQBw5YimnzM-IGWir0qL0b624KmS4rZ07EXAD2zQgsOMYZhMTfg_Ent4MPKIcvLddnOvV_ulQ4UTUU5C0cPDGYIb94r6e8saRDN5Vrt1xWnC-CfC3fdIxu44m28W3n3Us-L3ix4BsNQJnEl1R4twotSIKkLwbzvuOXOIVvA4P4/w640-h200/Communication%20Problems%20April%208%202003.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Actually, seeing that old post again was a timely reminder that this is very much still me and my brother now - I did, after all, just post a blog last week in which I tell him I love him by writing an extensive essay about Alvin and the Chipmunks, insulting him subtly and slipping a message of affection in at the end. I mean, he was in the next room at the time I was writing it...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So thanks to the person or robot who went and had a look at that 2005 post of mine, because it shows you're keeping up very impressively with my current and past preoccupations! And can I repeat the request made in that post for more blog comments here, please? Say hello if you're out there! Stay in touch! I'm going to write about Excel and Superman and lots of other things in the near future!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-42499728942347907662024-02-19T11:02:00.000+00:002024-02-19T11:02:05.838+00:00Mathematical games!<div style="text-align: left;"> Remember the <a href="https://zoomy.blogspot.com/2023/05/okay-this-is-new-thing.html">Logic and Mathematical Games</a> that I went to last year, having found out that such a thing existed the day before? Well, now I can give you all advance notice about the next one! May 25th, in Coventry! I recommend everybody go along and give it a go - it's great fun!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(I probably can't go myself, though - remember that puppet show? There's a clash.)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://bfmg.maths.coventry.domains/"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrKD35Y8oweB56cDVqRDuABJdt04rXoyzlLLbjqj24X6BaL2GEMmTXBff_C7ImYoHoq8-PiXWPp1PICpn-Bmpq-j8SPUaJwFneQbuS1JhRGewtCieTCbY_OyqYaglLVHzgSCMqiXaXTgYX377DcMZe-JWrJSmEwNB_Sv05cvFevQ_YZ60yTJ5/w452-h640/BFMG_poster_2024.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">We hope this message finds you well, and radiating with the same enthusiasm you brought to the Mathematical and Logical Games last year.</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">We are thrilled to announce the return of the challenge: the British Finals 2024 will again be held at Coventry University.</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">With this e-mail we are extending to you our personal invitation to dive back into the world of puzzles, problem-solving, and the pure joy of mathematics.</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">Please find enclosed a poster with all the details. If you know someone who shares your passion for mathematics and puzzles, or who is just curious, please invite them to join our community.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">Thank you, and looking forward to seeing you at the Games (and our fun training sessions).</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;"><a href="https://bfmg.maths.coventry.domains/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank">https://bfmg.maths.coventry.domains/</a></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0cm;">To participate</span></b><span style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0cm;">, and for further information, just drop an email to </span><b><span style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #4a630f; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0cm;"><a href="mailto:info@bfmg.maths.coventry.domains" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank" ymailto="mailto:info@bfmg.maths.coventry.domains"><span style="color: #4a630f;">info@bfmg.maths.coventry.domains</span></a></span></b><span style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #4a630f; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0cm;"><a href="mailto:info@bfmg.maths.coventry.domains" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: #0563c1;" target="_blank" ymailto="mailto:info@bfmg.maths.coventry.domains"><span style="color: #4a630f;"> </span></a></span><span style="background: rgb(247, 247, 247); border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0cm;">with your <b>name, surname, town, date of birth, and category.</b></span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">With warmest regards,</span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0cm; padding: 0px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">The Organizing Committee</span></p></div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-74537616071463313182024-02-18T17:01:00.004+00:002024-02-19T05:41:39.157+00:00Bromance<div style="text-align: left;">I mentioned previously how surprisingly great I find the new "ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks" cartoon, and it has to be said that a large part of why I like it so much is the way it portrays the everyday home lives of the Seville siblings - particularly Simon. There are multiple episodes that really make me feel for Simon, just because I recognise myself in him so strongly, and the episode I'm going to spotlight for you all today is one of the very best of these. It has its moments of sympathy for all three chipmunks, in fact, and really presents a believable and accurate family dynamic. I can see my own childhood in these stories perfectly represented!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewqJiGdRzoH4WiKRwJ0OYz7eYRWpHTYFOwQs-WTA8hBAnCk8EwukSfEOG2xlVvPdUsqGs5KhpoT2Naow8eh9Ux_2RZphvGWW7u0Y7Er23V6t-jXwj1Dnwyl5nap7pKWqydfzsKtaFwhBOBnZDpRGUzBzMYMxJzFxpaJwA6SXszdY2bKuxAkJ3/s598/Chipmunks%20generations.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="598" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewqJiGdRzoH4WiKRwJ0OYz7eYRWpHTYFOwQs-WTA8hBAnCk8EwukSfEOG2xlVvPdUsqGs5KhpoT2Naow8eh9Ux_2RZphvGWW7u0Y7Er23V6t-jXwj1Dnwyl5nap7pKWqydfzsKtaFwhBOBnZDpRGUzBzMYMxJzFxpaJwA6SXszdY2bKuxAkJ3/s320/Chipmunks%20generations.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Incidentally, fans of the various Chipmunk incarnations over the years should know that in this latest world Simon is the oldest, Alvin the middle child and Theodore the youngest, and there's an unspecified age gap between each of them. In the eighties series they were explicitly triplets and Alvin mentions in one episode that he's the oldest (by five minutes), while back in the sixties Alvin is the smallest and probably youngest of them. It can get a bit confusing.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As I prepare to bid a fond farewell to my brother, who's moving back to China after an impressive four-year covid-related exile, I think there's no better episode to focus on than "Bromance", written by chief chipmunk of the Bagdasarian family, Janice Karman.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We open in the living room at home, and a typical family moment. The computer animation in this new series does have its serious limitations, but the well-written and well-directed stories get around them very nicely for the most part. And the things it does well, like facial expressions, are absolutely wonderful! So is the dialogue, which is always snappy, funny and (impressively when you consider it's chipmunk-speech) very well delivered by the actors!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizeogv-nMauRdYP4MvRaLg01Yyyslo5Up8mcqBhnv8g-AEbnGsB384BqZ-UW2H3wgiZ-j_gLjp2_rUAHVeOti9EshHTDw-ud6vbmpGmC8zt5iFlGyV2z_krGvP8EvwUIi1iP3Y83DuGeaCvSeJnHSvZO-YtXsLWuL10xgoGv5wSdJdNZo-70Av" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizeogv-nMauRdYP4MvRaLg01Yyyslo5Up8mcqBhnv8g-AEbnGsB384BqZ-UW2H3wgiZ-j_gLjp2_rUAHVeOti9EshHTDw-ud6vbmpGmC8zt5iFlGyV2z_krGvP8EvwUIi1iP3Y83DuGeaCvSeJnHSvZO-YtXsLWuL10xgoGv5wSdJdNZo-70Av" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #04ff00;">Oh, oh, can I play?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Sorry, Theodore - Alvin and I are at the final level against the grand general of the undead army, and, well, if all goes well today we'll beat them!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">That's what you said yesterday. And the day before. And the...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I know, I know, but today, I...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4DB29o9xxOzTapT_I1lk54Myld_qTT7xsIi19j5FNo81JjGWpXB_NWZG7uzAjj86eesihvGp6hD6foej123GwSgGmA_EqWN5L5W3FY5f_gl_PepNSfAV2GRuMQBIggY79-UpWQAVjcWCo5H0AbxgjVYvBqtkE-e6oiU5udgkacuiWeJNb5Fts" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4DB29o9xxOzTapT_I1lk54Myld_qTT7xsIi19j5FNo81JjGWpXB_NWZG7uzAjj86eesihvGp6hD6foej123GwSgGmA_EqWN5L5W3FY5f_gl_PepNSfAV2GRuMQBIggY79-UpWQAVjcWCo5H0AbxgjVYvBqtkE-e6oiU5udgkacuiWeJNb5Fts" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: red;">FLYING SQUIRREL ATTACK!!!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">AAAAAAH!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Gotcha!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Alvin, remember I said no more Flying Squirrel Attacks! I told you, I hate when you jump out of nowhere like that!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">That's the point! What fun would it be if you saw me coming? "Oh, there you are, Alvin," "Yep, yep, here I come, look out," "Oh, gee, that's really scary..."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrTrO2uiKDul85i-0y-qSWz5qreRJcr18o7UHHZlwThrAHFdrETsDYcJnWpyUc8i35TUfGyfT29BcTyV8Uw4fV0TcdlrBryMqUdaZNEnXL9nKXsbEPvnX45x3qudKWoz7-COoak8P-iWZ2yfmSdyvktkdfS0Jxe-vjfXq5Lae--QH_Tolkp1O5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrTrO2uiKDul85i-0y-qSWz5qreRJcr18o7UHHZlwThrAHFdrETsDYcJnWpyUc8i35TUfGyfT29BcTyV8Uw4fV0TcdlrBryMqUdaZNEnXL9nKXsbEPvnX45x3qudKWoz7-COoak8P-iWZ2yfmSdyvktkdfS0Jxe-vjfXq5Lae--QH_Tolkp1O5" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br />Whatever. Now take a seat, my compadre, and get your game face on! Today, we have an army to defeat!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Ooh. No can do, Simon. I've got a basketball game in ten minutes.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhXKC6QKZ-TdoCyfIWzssZvWC3TfjpKZpjtv2rVaVetAU1zsOqJbh4NRbo9omP6ja-9-KlU9oOFWWm1S8W_XYmNqa1wNWVzW7qf_fW_1slIKlD_nCO2XwzNQqn_EVi9aGjnHqKGjzN5nRcKPn-5DLcs80qdD-LkZmf4F16OLBnFNsOTPB4_IPO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhXKC6QKZ-TdoCyfIWzssZvWC3TfjpKZpjtv2rVaVetAU1zsOqJbh4NRbo9omP6ja-9-KlU9oOFWWm1S8W_XYmNqa1wNWVzW7qf_fW_1slIKlD_nCO2XwzNQqn_EVi9aGjnHqKGjzN5nRcKPn-5DLcs80qdD-LkZmf4F16OLBnFNsOTPB4_IPO" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br />No, no, no, no! You're flaking on me again? This is like the tenth time!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Don't hate me because I'm popular... </span><span>(departs)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUnKG2QjsVx_xr7Hf3alsXYs90CDK9ljvQBrhhqiZOYmeH1RbYaU-vv_EFpSukjZq8y08P08_AuDrOmj0sOZZK_yLLv7Qv7O01wQm7K-ZapjC9lQsYtVpz5hQnqxTSmQ3jUtCWszmAMmp6uVxE_QyZP5LCAYHxsz-dlECswDetQ2xjMxspwpNx" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1920" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUnKG2QjsVx_xr7Hf3alsXYs90CDK9ljvQBrhhqiZOYmeH1RbYaU-vv_EFpSukjZq8y08P08_AuDrOmj0sOZZK_yLLv7Qv7O01wQm7K-ZapjC9lQsYtVpz5hQnqxTSmQ3jUtCWszmAMmp6uVxE_QyZP5LCAYHxsz-dlECswDetQ2xjMxspwpNx" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br />Well, here you go, Theodore. I'll just work on my science project. </span><span>(leaves)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">Yeah, well... thanks for asking me to help with your army! Cause... I didn't want to anyway!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The relationship between Alvin and Simon is at the core of this episode, but the way they both neglect and ignore Theodore throughout is a fascinating subplot, and does feel very true to life. I only had the one younger brother, who was (and still is) always the Alvin to my Simon, but what would it have been like if we'd had a Theodore in the family too? It really makes me think...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwCfXka-9f0T-mYONFocCukIzdqRLSKqiCX-1b1ex-JeWWHynOEGZho7y0Hncoz4tpIXxzZoAc-LU_seaFL4ypI74zTy7GKNUaEXISBddSrgA73j9_H6x5mUwil3C7NqHJvRYlOVsSkS1R0Zkm8AEiSctbvGtvfpVEXWwihnPdLl3XIMQ09Lvb" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwCfXka-9f0T-mYONFocCukIzdqRLSKqiCX-1b1ex-JeWWHynOEGZho7y0Hncoz4tpIXxzZoAc-LU_seaFL4ypI74zTy7GKNUaEXISBddSrgA73j9_H6x5mUwil3C7NqHJvRYlOVsSkS1R0Zkm8AEiSctbvGtvfpVEXWwihnPdLl3XIMQ09Lvb" width="200" /></a></div><br />Next day at school, Alvin gets lumbered with showing a new kid around, and quickly hands over the nerdy Jamie to Simon, who shows him his International Space Station model. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvEzxiOiYDFw3vcKW9_7twOT23FaS8QLHJOU3LXJ9Gbx62Wfp4Er8uy22ZpduwLkgAWs5X53SqvSAjoH0TcVWypLFYjKcb3Gd5n-jlpOpxQcXMkP7uLwkd0Am79kzie6sazCrBaY6pYyuzelKlATwoEtZhn5yMG3kfWAbizCnMQYZ0V2iux7eU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvEzxiOiYDFw3vcKW9_7twOT23FaS8QLHJOU3LXJ9Gbx62Wfp4Er8uy22ZpduwLkgAWs5X53SqvSAjoH0TcVWypLFYjKcb3Gd5n-jlpOpxQcXMkP7uLwkd0Am79kzie6sazCrBaY6pYyuzelKlATwoEtZhn5yMG3kfWAbizCnMQYZ0V2iux7eU" width="200" /></a></div><br />The two of them hit it off right away and now when Alvin has a moment in his busy calendar for video games, Simon is texting Jamie and not interested. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmIMbh9nVHEbERh5IZJ5GWIlX8F4J9rPvS7q9ao7Rau-AHypfqYL2UywU2jzEYHkVa9BdTcbGokt9HAx4Ycjb6WRmaa52okiDVrlLB0S9O7F11BkELr-IaEg_vUNxPJowKWZ0yMkvawvRMyFXUbiUaezvdsu65lc2Kxppc256F7pj_FDoiu3s8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1920" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmIMbh9nVHEbERh5IZJ5GWIlX8F4J9rPvS7q9ao7Rau-AHypfqYL2UywU2jzEYHkVa9BdTcbGokt9HAx4Ycjb6WRmaa52okiDVrlLB0S9O7F11BkELr-IaEg_vUNxPJowKWZ0yMkvawvRMyFXUbiUaezvdsu65lc2Kxppc256F7pj_FDoiu3s8" width="200" /></a></div><br />As seen in the obligatory musical montage, the two of them stay up all night exchanging funny text messages, play video games together, spend all their time hanging out and even develop their own cool science-gang handshake. It's really awesome.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But then Jamie notices that Simon's brother is one of the cool kids and starts suggesting "Hey, maybe your brother would like to come too?" Now, some people say (well, one person says) that I go on about this a lot, but I don't think I'm being unreasonably melodramatic at all when I say that my primary school days were characterised by being repeatedly ditched by my best friends in favour of my more charismatic younger brother. It's amazing that I grew up into such a well-rounded human being despite this traumatic experience. And if even to this day I avoid introducing my friends to him because I know they'll inevitably like him more than me, well, that's just normal common sense, isn't it?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5-MQN11oajv4nlBhYcHE_FfhuBhHGUt1YviefsaFoJmo53nj-PPijoHHTYpIbcXEABcxgimf-lx1-r5kNjoaGK_52Bzvs0U5trhTOPYzg8tEZpmRIDjfNnd0F4FtA27Rl7l0DCdsT_9amwk-KRJFiwAZUK0iCsaa4FS-3DAe5CdATRLzCg96J" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5-MQN11oajv4nlBhYcHE_FfhuBhHGUt1YviefsaFoJmo53nj-PPijoHHTYpIbcXEABcxgimf-lx1-r5kNjoaGK_52Bzvs0U5trhTOPYzg8tEZpmRIDjfNnd0F4FtA27Rl7l0DCdsT_9amwk-KRJFiwAZUK0iCsaa4FS-3DAe5CdATRLzCg96J" width="200" /></a></div><br />Simon even cheerfully tells Dave Jamie is the best friend he's ever had. It's heartbreaking! It ends up with Simon and Jamie signing up for a dance class, Jamie getting out of it and inviting Alvin to the cinema. Jamie ducks around a corner to avoid Simon and then runs after Alvin... </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAZjI1qaCQ3AVnliZSRPkGPBeUDUCqm9jZXLVaeIPJBJVpbRM7qES1O9ZVTY5zz5uI1LME6dlC05aRVXbJkpiacNTFvNalv2uwVAmpjI2DiHB9euBl_b94hJvFNPPNKsQy8s-VpYKxno2IpQ2RK7_4kDcSCiqh3yBAbTDHZVSlPnhPffykl4df" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1920" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAZjI1qaCQ3AVnliZSRPkGPBeUDUCqm9jZXLVaeIPJBJVpbRM7qES1O9ZVTY5zz5uI1LME6dlC05aRVXbJkpiacNTFvNalv2uwVAmpjI2DiHB9euBl_b94hJvFNPPNKsQy8s-VpYKxno2IpQ2RK7_4kDcSCiqh3yBAbTDHZVSlPnhPffykl4df" width="200" /></a></div>Alvin, to be fair to him, isn't at all interested in spending time with Jamie and is hugely reluctant when Jamie invites himself around for a sleepover. But Simon misinterprets the text Alvin sends, thinking that Alvin wants Simon to do his chores while he goes to Simon's best friend's house, and texts back to say that he's going for a really cool sleepover with someone else. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhpRcfG61P0D-DliWXoXxRDS1gH71if0dAa-mKJyAea2lQzReiW44QstQJJcjxNTHi-z_X3sffHArW-RNoEpR-vThyqLN0XsYxX6LTP69RzTIF2245NljqYpjXfuwGJ-px0dvnMGl0k2Bvy3AcHbYB_zLjyYgFNuDvralq8cPIbcHoLZFsaIpeU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhpRcfG61P0D-DliWXoXxRDS1gH71if0dAa-mKJyAea2lQzReiW44QstQJJcjxNTHi-z_X3sffHArW-RNoEpR-vThyqLN0XsYxX6LTP69RzTIF2245NljqYpjXfuwGJ-px0dvnMGl0k2Bvy3AcHbYB_zLjyYgFNuDvralq8cPIbcHoLZFsaIpeU" width="200" /></a></div>Which is a problem when Alvin and Jamie show up at the Seville house and Simon has to hide! Alvin and Jamie play together, not really having much fun all round, and Theodore has to keep distracting them from finding Simon's hiding place - Theo really is the heart and soul of that family, isn't he? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKFMzL91cDXvz74tgZdkAf4VEh2CcMOUY9phXRd49-M2-eOewN5EDexNd1RqE-im3uOWGhDNu9aq_yr8mwjUJfS9frLY0BoZe6_wxfpKnhxQ7jnUgiUqpf3flhszSgPY1mk4YlZfqLA1UGT4v4lIphmWATg3s_Mv3_dynp55SFTolA2lt3bpcO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1920" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKFMzL91cDXvz74tgZdkAf4VEh2CcMOUY9phXRd49-M2-eOewN5EDexNd1RqE-im3uOWGhDNu9aq_yr8mwjUJfS9frLY0BoZe6_wxfpKnhxQ7jnUgiUqpf3flhszSgPY1mk4YlZfqLA1UGT4v4lIphmWATg3s_Mv3_dynp55SFTolA2lt3bpcO" width="200" /></a></div>But eventually Alvin's going to open the wardrobe, and Simon gets out of it with a stroke of genius - Flying Squirrel Attack! The absolute delight of Alvin's reaction really makes you feel a little sorry for him, too, it has to be said. What he really wants is someone who will play Flying Squirrel Attack with him, and he doesn't get that from his siblings. But they all get along together in the end, as shown in the brilliant final scene.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(In which, it has to be said, they discuss their issues with possibly a little more maturity than I ever did...)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg125GgDmhNY5583ZzkoVDxT2NHuTFv6p0f3sbCQapsi_r_wOwQFiaLZ8Uj0-5Ww1rGWSRHHfSyZM8r3zmgQ-3bv1rQzud5IbXnX-tZOtK59-x_LAPXREzxV8u9YuYJSNMqi2oBPihNqdn2tjCsKlXFwveYHib52cQqF3EJ2voEuIPYqJIns3SN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1920" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg125GgDmhNY5583ZzkoVDxT2NHuTFv6p0f3sbCQapsi_r_wOwQFiaLZ8Uj0-5Ww1rGWSRHHfSyZM8r3zmgQ-3bv1rQzud5IbXnX-tZOtK59-x_LAPXREzxV8u9YuYJSNMqi2oBPihNqdn2tjCsKlXFwveYHib52cQqF3EJ2voEuIPYqJIns3SN" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: red;"><br />My point is, you deserve a better friend than Jamie. He's a jerk!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I can't blame him for wanting to spend more time with you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">He just liked me because he thought I was one of the cool kids!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7VBDZ3gQNXte1sbGZ2Kn1t4gc8x-aitGDe4-bOzRq40h2lk1OKAJ3pdI7O6oY57sW2s5Crh12SNqi4sTBt7CD5tvg1hANuntm3qY4z7q1PwIiyVJdBeVtajW5_7F_JuofCdrNd1AEPanfIGJroa59THv960pmTyj4_wiaBBXGQEtwiddvYPDO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7VBDZ3gQNXte1sbGZ2Kn1t4gc8x-aitGDe4-bOzRq40h2lk1OKAJ3pdI7O6oY57sW2s5Crh12SNqi4sTBt7CD5tvg1hANuntm3qY4z7q1PwIiyVJdBeVtajW5_7F_JuofCdrNd1AEPanfIGJroa59THv960pmTyj4_wiaBBXGQEtwiddvYPDO" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">But... you <i>are</i> more fun.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Simon. The only one having fun with me is me! I'm selfish, obnoxious, reckless, insensitive! Need I go on?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdtqh_bfwz_DRFzAkwzgHzlUHA5uDeGgdQM1bSUF5pH9we-G68vl7IODX-GC9UjeRJDaG4qF6Nk5vKHRV5QXyZ8BNT03vIfkYj1iXShDwCUViuycJwnbNNPX6HzLum_oRTAhI49pyz4wRVi5achhUMn1z8mGYgXvbRYOF0q-R5jmGwOmtxlvUu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1917" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdtqh_bfwz_DRFzAkwzgHzlUHA5uDeGgdQM1bSUF5pH9we-G68vl7IODX-GC9UjeRJDaG4qF6Nk5vKHRV5QXyZ8BNT03vIfkYj1iXShDwCUViuycJwnbNNPX6HzLum_oRTAhI49pyz4wRVi5achhUMn1z8mGYgXvbRYOF0q-R5jmGwOmtxlvUu" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Er, please, no.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Good, cause I was kind of hurting my own feelings. Anyway, if Jamie doesn't get how cool you are, then he's the wrong kind of friend!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">Yeah!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKL7RL_yjmtX5xsUiPC9SB6StSiW_GgGN5JukfpF0XkEUi5uNeLuu_5Y8M2K1NxBXrEF4HcygGMOyklIfNLzrhrhTPz_Fe8Bs5wHEPP9iDKOMdcsqQXUrvcbfT5Wtu6RfKHey4Obj5tBt0Tw7DtTDj06OGC2vvVPzIm2lWNhsJJO6K6ybrlPWj" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1920" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKL7RL_yjmtX5xsUiPC9SB6StSiW_GgGN5JukfpF0XkEUi5uNeLuu_5Y8M2K1NxBXrEF4HcygGMOyklIfNLzrhrhTPz_Fe8Bs5wHEPP9iDKOMdcsqQXUrvcbfT5Wtu6RfKHey4Obj5tBt0Tw7DtTDj06OGC2vvVPzIm2lWNhsJJO6K6ybrlPWj" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thanks, guys. You know, I feel a little better. Goodnight.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">Goodnight, Simon.</span> (turns out light) <span style="color: red;">FLYING SQUIRREL ATTACK!!!!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I really love this show. And, for that matter, my excessively cool younger brother, who I will greatly miss while he's so far away. I'd still like to meet our hypothetical Theodore, too...</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-30462900009934552522024-02-14T10:02:00.002+00:002024-02-14T10:02:37.086+00:00The Young New Mexican Puppeteer<div style="text-align: left;"> People who have been eagerly checking my blog to see what I decided to do last weekend can now be put out of their misery - I went to London to see the puppet show people. And much to my astonishment, I got the part of one of the central characters! I only signed up to audition because I fell in love with him in the 2012 show and wanted the opportunity to actually handle the puppet myself, but now I'm part of a great legacy! It's like becoming the new Doctor Who, only much better, because it involves puppeteering too!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Obviously, my timing wasn't perfect here, because my puppet-phobic brother is staying with me this week, so I'm just having to keep the puppet I brought home safely packed away, but between now and the May bank holiday, I'm going to be working hard on getting to grips with my favourite character and really doing him justice in my performance!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-81803169786718607632024-01-26T18:56:00.002+00:002024-01-26T18:56:30.384+00:00On the road (to Las Vegas) again<div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://fmworldcup.com/">The Microsoft Excel World Championship</a> has kicked off its new season of monthly fun Excel challenges. Ten battles this year, with five people qualifying from each one for the finals, and it's fair to say I didn't really get off to a flying start...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fmworldcup.com/excel-esports/road-to-las-vegas-2024-rankings/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1370" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYn0PnjonyVNd1ukQBReO-KrsxPBgflrab4s57yP4UNORBPlZ0wrxngBdb5dyDtJ-w-WkBCvF0wnb6Fq5gU77--tYdqcOwSRWkUJId7lqNsrp3d_Y_1P_7D88mwNRNOuW8fUQHnbCOh3TVDmPUTGNO2SDRAj0AxDKrWBHvZPLWcXR-aNbJaqeu" width="640" /></a></div><br />But hey, 49th out of 282 (including the ones with no score at all who might have forgotten they entered in the first place) is a start, and if we get another one that I unexpectedly do well at in the next nine months, we're all set for qualification again! Everyone else should join in, even if by doing so you reduce my chances even further!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-91338330535560503132024-01-22T18:59:00.001+00:002024-01-22T18:59:18.682+00:00Action and satisfaction<div style="text-align: left;"> NickToons is showing "ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks" all day every day at the moment, and I've changed my mind about the series. I'd assumed, since modern versions of classic cartoons are invariably rubbish, and the movies really really looked like they were rubbish, this modern cartoon would be terrible.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Well, I was entirely wrong. The episodes are of variable quality, but the best ones are just perfectly done! I think the classic mix of personalities embodied by Alvin, Simon and Theodore is always going to lend itself to entertaining stories, even in these terrible modern days, and I would urge everyone to go out and watch it!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(Simon's the best, by the way)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOU_D945w2ogXBNWGQ-xpwtoEFULwShDslVLJ0EmCs020mIq82fGuqQtiEjdEHZXKfJpP2Wy7JI3OYvOD7fv1evD39E6bUDET3LKePHEZcYzJ9iWvi9uU0dk8lFlEz2NlQkba1_Ec3tiVcwhHyL_qFmTRZSylmItv2b1a-ZN4-qsr20jzwa1ax" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="648" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOU_D945w2ogXBNWGQ-xpwtoEFULwShDslVLJ0EmCs020mIq82fGuqQtiEjdEHZXKfJpP2Wy7JI3OYvOD7fv1evD39E6bUDET3LKePHEZcYzJ9iWvi9uU0dk8lFlEz2NlQkba1_Ec3tiVcwhHyL_qFmTRZSylmItv2b1a-ZN4-qsr20jzwa1ax=w640-h312" width="640" /></a></div><br />Meanwhile, I'm torn between two choices of activity on the 10th-11th of February. I could go to Cambridge for the Cambridge International Othello Tournament, like I invariably do at this time of year, or I could go to London to meet with people organising a puppet show for the May bank holiday weekend. Which I haven't done before but might have fun doing. Although the puppet people I mostly don't know all that well or at all and I've fallen in with them by way of mutual friends, so it might all be weird all round.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This could be the plot of a Chipmunks episode, actually. Simon would prefer the othello, and so would Theodore (although more because he fears change), but I might have to side with Alvin and do the puppet show this time.</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-90860188423455207212024-01-20T11:39:00.002+00:002024-01-20T11:39:58.619+00:00Where man once stood supreme<div style="text-align: left;"> Do you remember when I said I'd run out of Thundercats writers with early comics work I could blog about for the benefit of my few-if-any readers who might find that kind of thing interesting? Do you also remember when I said that 47th issues of Marvel comics tend not to be anything to write home about? Both of these assertions might be contradicted in this blog post.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thundercats, if you weren't paying attention, starts with four world-building episodes by head writer Leonard Starr, then five more episodes before the rest of the main team of writers (Peter Lawrence, Stephen Perry, William Overgard, Bob Haney) took over. Those five early episodes include one more by Starr, and four by Jules Bass under the pen-name Julian P. Gardner - one on which he gets sole credit, one with Barney Cohen, and the other two sharing the credit with Ron Goulart.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcCdmKpz-lSWPFYeZCeJUqP1Xn3o6X2fOtsunfR2eMRdsD39qvWwbH1uBpntuM0gvoYwMVmnF5ma-llSF3PJhPmodctq4-RR-02AB7sNW7QMMUl7PEQ9rxEyeN_xa4wQ-T9zOXZDxfJHBwYsCnGvhPWNvtCDzZ59xe_SXq4w1Jhg6YmPdNLW4/s996/Goulart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="996" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcCdmKpz-lSWPFYeZCeJUqP1Xn3o6X2fOtsunfR2eMRdsD39qvWwbH1uBpntuM0gvoYwMVmnF5ma-llSF3PJhPmodctq4-RR-02AB7sNW7QMMUl7PEQ9rxEyeN_xa4wQ-T9zOXZDxfJHBwYsCnGvhPWNvtCDzZ59xe_SXq4w1Jhg6YmPdNLW4/w640-h252/Goulart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Goulart and Bass both died in 2022, so I'm rather late to pay tribute to their contribution to the whole universe of Thundercats. But Ron Goulart was well known as a writer of science-fiction and fantasy novels, and probably seemed like a good person to go to for story ideas in the future-Earth fantasy-style setting of Thundercats. But he didn't stick around after these two stories.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">Among the other things Ron had dabbled in was a brief stint at Marvel comics in the early seventies, adapting classic fiction by Robert Bloch and H. P. Lovecraft into comic form for Marvel's brief revival of "Journey Into Mystery". I can only assume that led to him being around the office one day when they needed a writer for the latest issue of Warlock, because it's a bit of a digression from what he usually did...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnApPE7Ljt7dbhalooPLUiRFJ9q84LvAN08Kqmxj3r3vn0ZapOFXzjOAlO7gsAfUsMntdqSlOL0NMLw37uSIAzhk40xzLLYFkF2sa0vnWTTgDQCzFueQqsA3W05dC_DpRaayYrHv5ZHdDyrsgygaFt80Ij8mEBZcLK0rT2-8xuZJwE_YiiA1pI/s595/Warlock5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnApPE7Ljt7dbhalooPLUiRFJ9q84LvAN08Kqmxj3r3vn0ZapOFXzjOAlO7gsAfUsMntdqSlOL0NMLw37uSIAzhk40xzLLYFkF2sa0vnWTTgDQCzFueQqsA3W05dC_DpRaayYrHv5ZHdDyrsgygaFt80Ij8mEBZcLK0rT2-8xuZJwE_YiiA1pI/w430-h640/Warlock5.jpg" width="430" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Adam Warlock at this point in time was a character who hadn't really caught on. Like the new Journey Into Mystery, this comic was axed pretty quickly - but then it came back a couple of years later, written and drawn by Jim Starlin, and that was when Warlock became extremely cool! But back in 1972, it was drawn competently enough by Gil Kane, and after a first issue written by Roy Thomas the writing duties had been taken over by Mike Friedrich. And then for some reason, #5 was handed over to Ron Goulart to continue the story of Adam Warlock's adventures on Counter-Earth, just for one month. The next issue was scripted by Friedrich again, but with a credit to Goulart for the plot, "from an idea by Roy Thomas". Mike Friedrich was the writer of the two subsequent issues before it was cancelled.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And in 1975, Marvel UK picked it up to fill some space as a backup strip behind the popular movie and TV-inspired Planet of the Apes comic. And since the cool comic shop in Birmingham had a pile of those for sale, I thought it would be appropriate to buy the 47th and 48th issues, which reprinted the American Warlock #5 and admire the sole superhero-comic work of Ron Goulart!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, to be fair, I was only talking about 47th issues of <i>American</i> Marvel comics that time. The 47th issue of the UK Transformers comic was the first part of Dinobot Hunt, which was just wonderful. And the 47th issue of Planet of the Apes, ten years earlier, doesn't seem any better or worse than the usual standard of that comic. Especially if you're interested in seeing how Ron Goulart writes superheroes!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kHp_vQeRu-8A53Y9H1cwUauctYUgq2EEHzmntymRe5_yv3VWnY8lVGvHpaqLeaknytWV7gDeDM7ePpkZdqWYwLUHKYN9KT3dzGw-2uvTPQt7lrUozdvVk8Ikx8W_kR73KWwlD_X489NpMm6Nq4h2T9jsFjb_5pwVgD-jUkcwArfV-cz6GE2B/s3372/Apes%2047%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3372" data-original-width="2451" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kHp_vQeRu-8A53Y9H1cwUauctYUgq2EEHzmntymRe5_yv3VWnY8lVGvHpaqLeaknytWV7gDeDM7ePpkZdqWYwLUHKYN9KT3dzGw-2uvTPQt7lrUozdvVk8Ikx8W_kR73KWwlD_X489NpMm6Nq4h2T9jsFjb_5pwVgD-jUkcwArfV-cz6GE2B/w466-h640/Apes%2047%20cover.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Apart from the front and back covers, the comic is entirely monochrome, but that works fine for Planet of the Apes - the American original version was also black and white, a magazine in more the style of British comics, with text features and things related to the TV show. The British comic gives us eight pages of apes, 11 pages of Captain Marvel and 11 pages of Warlock, because they had to ration the amount of available ape-material and pad the comic out with something else.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Apes story, reprinted from the American Planet of the Apes #12, is rather good, actually. The art by Tom Sutton is very nice, benefitting from the black-and-white approach and telling a nice story by Doug Moench about a floating island city which in a previous uprising had been split into two communities, the previously ruling class of orangutans on one side, and the rebel gorillas on the other, with chimps as the working classes serving both. A masked saboteur is provoking a new war between the two sides. Those eight pages are worth the 8p price of the comic by themselves.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Which is probably for the best, because the Captain Marvel story, from the second issue of his series way back in 1968, is basically filler stuff. And the Warlock story that follows isn't, in all fairness, much good either.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjt0YGBQTnoNgYaFGu3eBigyVgv7sOI5wMuPjN26pmv3HwtaHPaqqQ0sn78Gt7vzJQsalW_Wv4njKBmRxyNNqrfdhDaHtTHOniuI-43G1BdfVbCNzuymu2pNmJ8U0TjvqqGhzd-SvzeM_lD0R4SYPIlX40G_CNlcaGQV7JaRVX32KMsNdbY1d/s3366/Apes%2047%20splash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3366" data-original-width="2415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjt0YGBQTnoNgYaFGu3eBigyVgv7sOI5wMuPjN26pmv3HwtaHPaqqQ0sn78Gt7vzJQsalW_Wv4njKBmRxyNNqrfdhDaHtTHOniuI-43G1BdfVbCNzuymu2pNmJ8U0TjvqqGhzd-SvzeM_lD0R4SYPIlX40G_CNlcaGQV7JaRVX32KMsNdbY1d/w460-h640/Apes%2047%20splash.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So here's Adam Warlock! This one, of course, was originally in colour - the credit for the colourist (it was George Roussos) has been removed from the bottom of the page, meaning that letterer Artie Simek gets a bigger box than everyone else all to himself. And the title, The Day of the Death Birds, is a bit strange for this first half of the American comic - there's no mention of Death Birds until the final panel of the British reprint this issue.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But this reprint takes an interesting approach to colouring. Adam Warlock is 'golden-skinned', which with the limitations of American comic colouring meant that he was orange. Marvel UK in this issue makes Adam stand out by shading him grey in every panel.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Adam is currently on Counter-Earth, an exact duplicate of Earth on the opposite side of the sun, created by The High Evolutionary. Adam went off on his own at the end of the previous issue after the death of one of his young human friends, so Ron Goulart basically has a clean slate to work from. He wakes up from a cocoon the High Evolutionary had put him into for a rest and finds himself at the site of a planned underground atom bomb test right next to the San Andreas Fault. The Counter-Earth version of Doctor Doom, a noble scientist, warns the President that this will be a bad thing all round, but the evil President (who subsequently turns out to be Warlock's foe the Man-Beast in disguise, naturally) insists it has to go ahead.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHguI1Dy_d_MceGs8mSwvP-XbLCA49nv9iJvXL4ejC4te2V5RIas0udG0GJKPM67y12BoJDjqibpdScYghv7GYOaqi-nP5Rne0yA_1fxPM9xhSkNTf35aZfFQhGTHB1TADbIJ_P4D3OHsEjExTcwEtgJ0yADh8NmfiFVHTaPiV7AJxBWW4bCNJ/s3366/Apes%2047%20action.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3366" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHguI1Dy_d_MceGs8mSwvP-XbLCA49nv9iJvXL4ejC4te2V5RIas0udG0GJKPM67y12BoJDjqibpdScYghv7GYOaqi-nP5Rne0yA_1fxPM9xhSkNTf35aZfFQhGTHB1TADbIJ_P4D3OHsEjExTcwEtgJ0yADh8NmfiFVHTaPiV7AJxBWW4bCNJ/w472-h640/Apes%2047%20action.jpg" width="472" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>So Adam Warlock spends this issue fighting the natural disasters caused by the explosion. The art isn't all that impressive, and it rather suffers from the loss of the colours. And then it turns out there's a stockpile of anti-personnel missiles, nicknamed Deathbirds, in a cave nearby, and of course they're set loose. Which will be continued next issue...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gyBuPcGDF-4bnQHhYItiMpjsN6b-_h3YLi1jvioW1WZda60iSPRnv5SCvSyTGQtB1rzXm2F-z24qEQlA5IanLw27Y2-U82Ny71_66sIOkgt3YGpSXoD4UIDo-zeJScigRc5pTEKSk3kG-0KYJGzDiZkASy6qKtfL_FtaypLAhFPxZJhLyTkI/s3354/Apes%2047%20pinup.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3354" data-original-width="2451" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gyBuPcGDF-4bnQHhYItiMpjsN6b-_h3YLi1jvioW1WZda60iSPRnv5SCvSyTGQtB1rzXm2F-z24qEQlA5IanLw27Y2-U82Ny71_66sIOkgt3YGpSXoD4UIDo-zeJScigRc5pTEKSk3kG-0KYJGzDiZkASy6qKtfL_FtaypLAhFPxZJhLyTkI/w468-h640/Apes%2047%20pinup.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The inside back cover gives us a Warlock pin-up to stick on our walls if we really want to. I don't imagine many readers bothered with it.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RURyTQd4WcxT0eQnp7QtefGEMr0wZYUqB7a9ohpNaGFAFwVmVm70nWHb4e3bXOq0y36em0JVcZ7Ou33f37bdNmOoNFcqZTCel8b_F58Imx81wtDMMpwlAaLmvrLmxW5fAJtdT_-gKq-sYcNcIvo0FVkXyCxkYjKtP-HE5WisW37dnBDObIu6/s3348/Apes%2047%20back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3348" data-original-width="2433" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RURyTQd4WcxT0eQnp7QtefGEMr0wZYUqB7a9ohpNaGFAFwVmVm70nWHb4e3bXOq0y36em0JVcZ7Ou33f37bdNmOoNFcqZTCel8b_F58Imx81wtDMMpwlAaLmvrLmxW5fAJtdT_-gKq-sYcNcIvo0FVkXyCxkYjKtP-HE5WisW37dnBDObIu6/w466-h640/Apes%2047%20back.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And the back cover, telling us it's Midsummer Madness even though it's mid-September, promises that all of Marvel's comics next week will have a free mask on the back! And what's more, the inside back cover won't contain story pages! This was a regular complaint all through British comics of the eighties, so it's impressive to see that Marvel were able to do something about it as early as 1975! I'm certainly inspired to get the next issue!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8U5ELvw5r5tqplDTky5Pt_H1JRy-Pe4fY4VyntZUmmX5t4zd4kNe5y1jtIIFF8tw_KNGLP28PE6w7JrXd2Rgs2pfk_TNpcBFf-f2eXzrce9gAAdelDbjfihBWscx2bYcb1mkiHIkxE33tQW8_qQa-ua_Ji4CnsQo3wDi76FMOoIJxuv5byAO/s3337/Apes%2048%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3337" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8U5ELvw5r5tqplDTky5Pt_H1JRy-Pe4fY4VyntZUmmX5t4zd4kNe5y1jtIIFF8tw_KNGLP28PE6w7JrXd2Rgs2pfk_TNpcBFf-f2eXzrce9gAAdelDbjfihBWscx2bYcb1mkiHIkxE33tQW8_qQa-ua_Ji4CnsQo3wDi76FMOoIJxuv5byAO/w476-h640/Apes%2048%20cover.jpg" width="476" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The cover of this one is nothing to do with the story inside it, which doesn't feature any humans. It continues the orangutan/gorilla war story; ten pages of it this time. It's still good stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is followed by the letters page, in which one letter tells readers about the existence of an American Planet of the Apes fan club which the British readers can join, and the other tells readers about Planet of the Apes books that British readers can find in the shops. This is the kind of thing that happened in the world before the internet; people didn't know these things unless weekly magazines told them about it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fan club letter is from a "Miss Jackie Dunham", who had been told about it by her American pen pal. Miss Jackie really likes America. She goes on to say that Captain America is her favourite character in the Avengers and that "We have a kind of restaurant in Norwich called 'Captain America' and in it you get all American type food, e.g. Hamburgers etc." This is the kind of thing that happened in the days before McDonald's invaded British shores.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqu17QWkRKACxK5SxA3t569wFinokfZoXwmOywRPXnvzh4UMHO3NnBx8UkDQ4VZGtkjqmmbNE_OC8M7IqCqWXg0_rC364wcw_NVrv-j45IHBQz9ok_Ytp6yDEU2APQY8InSNAQe1Su0ZjWyvOh-Al-1ZpWXuj98hfrJA6H48Gp0cfIafV1uSmr/s3343/Apes%2048%20splash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3343" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqu17QWkRKACxK5SxA3t569wFinokfZoXwmOywRPXnvzh4UMHO3NnBx8UkDQ4VZGtkjqmmbNE_OC8M7IqCqWXg0_rC364wcw_NVrv-j45IHBQz9ok_Ytp6yDEU2APQY8InSNAQe1Su0ZjWyvOh-Al-1ZpWXuj98hfrJA6H48Gp0cfIafV1uSmr/w474-h640/Apes%2048%20splash.jpg" width="474" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Warlock is promoted to the middle spot of this issue. Impressively, Marvel UK create a new splash page for this reprint of the second half of the story, using the cover of the American comic. It looks good! Adam Warlock and Professor von Doom are able to destroy the Deathbirds, and Adam finds the crowd of innocent bystanders worshipping him.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cTiZwAqX3Cmw4L1j1d8SVO2AS2zNHnNncCVuJLW08bOlVwCRW-OI2rh16Nxk_34LII99JNQhlPupPOldYRhiQowutAzwy_iI7y_zCRmn5KM4eaH77IJn9zAFq7KUuW5Y3CBi-R997RmurOSCkp3OgGKv4bS76RyduyVqoWsSUt65SFbzthoA/s3348/Apes%2048%20action.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3348" data-original-width="2439" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cTiZwAqX3Cmw4L1j1d8SVO2AS2zNHnNncCVuJLW08bOlVwCRW-OI2rh16Nxk_34LII99JNQhlPupPOldYRhiQowutAzwy_iI7y_zCRmn5KM4eaH77IJn9zAFq7KUuW5Y3CBi-R997RmurOSCkp3OgGKv4bS76RyduyVqoWsSUt65SFbzthoA/w466-h640/Apes%2048%20action.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But then the evil President makes a TV broadcast to the nation announcing that the whole thing was Adam Warlock's fault! Which gives us a cliffhanger leading into the next issue. Whether what happens there is close to what Ron Goulart was intending is impossible to say, but this is the end of his sole contribution to the adventures of Adam Warlock, and indeed any comic not revolving around Cthulhu or William Shatner's TekWar (for which Goulart wrote the comic adaptation in the nineties, having also secretly been the ghost-writer of the original book).</div><div><br /></div><div>And then we find out why they printed Miss Jackie Dunham's letter about the American fan club...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9u4w1Lsg0nUEqdu4ARpxi8q8MObQn5Z2VITJBL2RWWDjwqFRBmk-X7azW-CD2t5KnIX_kr3K6xVu-aKS6ki8aGMU0f31g8O-AgVCT5iBS8Ef0zgkccJXieuwgsPPVuPNIPc7ipb_Ea_1vi2xhFC4dnifH8kLEkrL_IU4hs9AbEReQI7WClWb6/s3337/Apes%2048%20fan%20club.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3337" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9u4w1Lsg0nUEqdu4ARpxi8q8MObQn5Z2VITJBL2RWWDjwqFRBmk-X7azW-CD2t5KnIX_kr3K6xVu-aKS6ki8aGMU0f31g8O-AgVCT5iBS8Ef0zgkccJXieuwgsPPVuPNIPc7ipb_Ea_1vi2xhFC4dnifH8kLEkrL_IU4hs9AbEReQI7WClWb6/w476-h640/Apes%2048%20fan%20club.jpg" width="476" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>The attempt at a British fan club, which had been announced with some fanfare previously, has had to be abandoned because James Naughton and Ron Harper aren't answering their phones. Then comes a bit more of Captain Marvel battling the Super-Skrull, which to be fair is pretty good really. And the inside back cover, as promised, is devoted to an ad for an Airfix model kit. And the model in question, which British kids should have felt no compunction about cutting up a picture of, is Rommel's 'Greif' Half-Track. But on the other side is the promised mask!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiuUeQUWN8JVTxWhz_48Y5RvddUB5wV4SNUS1nrx-SVKPYbsEIdPsSaCa_aax3AkeAHPrW0um7a9zhWMeoLqOMcuv3hDPbuVkZTDiz7f1rWPNr-naaYdlcfmjEYo50jFG-nNHQIrD2jIxGMfIS405A1DTPpeikInc-1Ea6F3kqLVi_91uLH0ZS/s3325/Apes%2048%20back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3325" data-original-width="2480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiuUeQUWN8JVTxWhz_48Y5RvddUB5wV4SNUS1nrx-SVKPYbsEIdPsSaCa_aax3AkeAHPrW0um7a9zhWMeoLqOMcuv3hDPbuVkZTDiz7f1rWPNr-naaYdlcfmjEYo50jFG-nNHQIrD2jIxGMfIS405A1DTPpeikInc-1Ea6F3kqLVi_91uLH0ZS/w478-h640/Apes%2048%20back.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Now you can go around looking like an ape, if you really want to!<div><br /></div><div>So that's Ron Goulart's contribution to the world of British comics! It's a good job we've got those two rather good episodes of Thundercats to remember him by!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-75069725711577484602024-01-13T21:24:00.001+00:002024-01-13T21:24:06.103+00:00That was... BRILLIANT!<div style="text-align: left;"> How did they manage that? Bringing back Gladiators was a real flop the last time they tried it, but the new BBC series does it absolutely perfectly, capturing the excitement and sheer coolness of the original that got us all worked up back in... 1992. Wow. That was a long, long time ago when you look at it like that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But the new range of gladiators show some real character - Legend had some great one-liners, he's definitely my favourite. I feel like I'm sixteen again and need to get practicing with my pugil-stick!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And what's more, we should TOTALLY do this with memory sports! Young memorisers today are always calling me 'the legend' - get some of us old-timers dressed up in fancy costumes and cool noms-de-guerre and have us go up against contenders in memory-themed challenges! It could be the next generation of memory competitions!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Who's up for it? What's your Memory Gladiator name?</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-49037555995806110282024-01-02T19:01:00.000+00:002024-01-02T19:01:00.543+00:00Predicting the future<div style="text-align: left;"> Apparently someone looked at <a href="https://zoomy.blogspot.com/2009/12/comparisons.html">this old post</a> that I'd forgotten about, but I still think is a fun comparison of cool sports with the coolest sport (memory).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And it was a sequel to <a href="https://zoomy.blogspot.com/2009/12/in-1994-scientists-predicted.html">this one-day-older post</a> in which I express a hope that "the 2010s will be the decade when the World Memory Championships has a consistent set of rules from one year to the next, and nobody complains!" - which, well, memory sports didn't <i>quite</i> achieve, but never mind.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And Boris speculated "Will there be an mental athlete in every town in 2100, who can memorize a deck of cards in 30s?" - and I think we've pretty much reached that point now in 2024, so we're well ahead of schedule. I miss the days when I was the only one who could do that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[There really was a brief period when I was the only one who had demonstrated the ability to memorize a deck of cards in under thirty seconds in universally-acknowledged controlled conditions, so shush, you pedants.]</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-29987873037603503882023-12-29T10:50:00.001+00:002023-12-29T10:50:09.495+00:00They never are chess. Chess with no clothes on! Chess in their birthday suits! That kind of chess. Chess men!<div style="text-align: left;"> One thing I do spend quite a lot of time doing on the internet is playing chess. I discovered chess.com last year, and play five- and ten-minute games when I have a spare moment. I aim to keep my rating over 1000 in the former and 1200 in the latter; I'm realistic about my skills as a chess player. The site provides a year-in-review summary that suggests I've fallen infuriatingly short of breaking even in games played in 2023, and I know if I try to fix it by playing a lot more games, my ratio will inevitably get worse, so perhaps I should leave it at that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMDbDqTvUywjPscVr2XasUseV4BqFtzMGrBOCxJt94GMwP7ch9R1nhjHv6FMO0ctwNo-IcRJDA6cwUPk07w4C2G75WzfKt1Vr8YnUjNNMoAwrUTL3IINWqA5lviQ9bKNzPUQwaZt4QF4TkQR6YcsRMVQJnEM9nUeuIaTvzLcdGXWQS7atnP8NW" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="1892" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMDbDqTvUywjPscVr2XasUseV4BqFtzMGrBOCxJt94GMwP7ch9R1nhjHv6FMO0ctwNo-IcRJDA6cwUPk07w4C2G75WzfKt1Vr8YnUjNNMoAwrUTL3IINWqA5lviQ9bKNzPUQwaZt4QF4TkQR6YcsRMVQJnEM9nUeuIaTvzLcdGXWQS7atnP8NW=w640-h302" width="640" /></a></div><br />Anyway, the site is trumpeting a <a href="https://www.chess.com/tournament/2024-chess-com-daily-chess-championship">2024 "daily chess championship"</a>, and I was wondering if I should enter it. Time control of "one day per move", which is apparently challenging to the players who take online chess seriously. There are prizes for best blogs and best video analyses of it, and maybe I could become some kind of chess-blogger. It would be different, anyway.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thing is, I've never really played a proper game of chess, the kind where you think about your moves for a long period of time. Even the ten-minute games on chess.com seem very relaxed to me, even accounting for my brain slowing down in my old age. At school, Noddy and I would find a quiet corner on a twenty-minute break and play about twenty games, all while having an extensive and enlightening conversation about comics or TV or how great we are in general, or singing extremely cool songs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This kind of tournament doesn't sound like all that much fun - "Opening databases and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted," says the rules. I only really play one opening; I'd get lost if I was keeping track of some other standard opening, even before we get to the point where the players are supposed to be using their own brains. I'd turn to the wrong page of the opening book and do something ridiculous with my queen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But on the other hand, I do play othello on eothello.com all the time nowadays, and you get a long time to play your moves there. And apparently lots of people sign up for and drop out of these big tournaments on chess.com, so maybe I'll win the entire championship by default. Or else my opponents will be caught cheating - three times on chess.com I've had a message saying some dastardly opponent was using unfair means to beat me, and I got my rating bumped up by a few points. I don't know how they catch cheaters - are they watching me right now?</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-51919563436369322852023-12-27T11:49:00.002+00:002023-12-27T11:49:44.016+00:00A ten-pound-fifty pig<div style="text-align: left;"> Among the Christmas presents I got from my generous brother this year was the Dennis the Menace Book 1976!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBQfnBxFW9v_7LqrpgL_Daj7r5ITn38dzP2ltPXyBuUagx6Vqme_EzlhsxSGpgSHwTs92Z8_x55KLlgfkfsyVJe9xxizJmtlilmh3wpIlUvZTrnremc97filry_uNoYsdwPPkIbHN27UJaJjpPDDb0HCFP9LVWF-Jgqc3XrkeStrJi2B4uDXF/s3301/The%20menace%20front%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3301" data-original-width="2304" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivBQfnBxFW9v_7LqrpgL_Daj7r5ITn38dzP2ltPXyBuUagx6Vqme_EzlhsxSGpgSHwTs92Z8_x55KLlgfkfsyVJe9xxizJmtlilmh3wpIlUvZTrnremc97filry_uNoYsdwPPkIbHN27UJaJjpPDDb0HCFP9LVWF-Jgqc3XrkeStrJi2B4uDXF/w446-h640/The%20menace%20front%20cover.jpg" width="446" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We used to have this book, long ago, second-hand (it came out about a year before I was born; British annuals are always released the autumn before the year on the cover) and it always felt a bit strange to anyone used to Dennis as he looked in the 1980s. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Even back in 1975, it must have seemed a bit off to new readers - at that time, Dennis had been the full-colour cover feature of the Beano since September 1974 (shunting Biffo the Bear to the back pages) and had probably attracted a new audience keen to see a book full of Dennis and Gnasher to supplement their weekly dose!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But inside the full-colour hardback book with the modern-looking Dennis on the cover, readers could only find Gnasher in the various text stories, pin-ups and other features. All the comic strip adventures were reprints from old Beanos of the days before Gnasher's 1968 introduction, when Dennis was in duotone red-black-and-white single-page strips, and drawn rather differently from the way he appeared in the seventies.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The dialogue had to be updated here and there whenever someone mentions money - decimalisation had happened in 1971, and the young readers being given this book for Christmas were the first generation to grow up without shillings, tanners, threepenny bits and the other stock currency-phrases of comics from the old days!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This particular strip, though, causes more problems than that...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC5aqke8ba2ufn7H7BluizL2HsK7oYcxXt_ShKSas-IHct8Pk4waFFQLG_bGi7JkpuNU_keG8j7qOz2XRVd55jDQILgLJWRdwMPHDN_WjCgLVax3C3qhdJh70qBQtt9JIqFScCGLj0Fj-1uV3iklkS2O_3YAonBR6SespxH2bZ4Ov5WzEx6Sw/s3265/Dennis's%20pet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3265" data-original-width="2377" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC5aqke8ba2ufn7H7BluizL2HsK7oYcxXt_ShKSas-IHct8Pk4waFFQLG_bGi7JkpuNU_keG8j7qOz2XRVd55jDQILgLJWRdwMPHDN_WjCgLVax3C3qhdJh70qBQtt9JIqFScCGLj0Fj-1uV3iklkS2O_3YAonBR6SespxH2bZ4Ov5WzEx6Sw/w466-h640/Dennis's%20pet.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Not only does Dennis say "We don't have a dog, Dad!", the whole punchline relies on pre-decimal currency!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The speech bubble has been dutifully corrected - "two shillings" becomes "ten pence", "eight shillings" becomes "forty pence", but they can't really change "ten guineas" and have to leave it as it is. Well, grown-ups even in 1975 would still probably have said that kind of thing if it was funny, and they could always explain it to the kids, so there's no harm done.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Except to Dennis's backside, of course - this was the era when every comic story had to end with the protagonist getting a ferocious whacking, and it's always nice to see an innovative implement being used instead of the slipper for a change! That's what people really read these things for, isn't it?</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-48214871143151803052023-12-23T11:37:00.003+00:002023-12-23T11:37:41.269+00:00What has Roger really been up to?<div style="text-align: left;"> Something I'm going to do if I ever have the time to devote to such a major task is compile a definitive chronology of the Johnny Ludlow stories written by Mrs Henry Wood. Originally published anonymously in Argosy magazine (which Mrs Wood edited and wrote a lot of the content of), "Johnny Ludlow's papers" are entertaining supposedly-autobiographical stories of things Johnny did in his younger days. They aren't written in chronological order, dotting about between different periods in his life at random, and he often doesn't specify when they happened, leaving the reader to make an educated guess as to whether we're reading a story about a young boy or a grown man.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Exactly when the stories take place is also vague, but we can pin them down for the most part - it's clear that Johnny is somewhat younger than Mrs Wood (some people suggested he's based on her son, but by all accounts Charles Wood was much more of a wuss than even the wimpy 'muff' Johnny Ludlow and never had an interesting adventure in his life). The key chronological marker on which the sequence of events can be hung is the fourth published story, "Watching on St. Mark's Eve", from April 1868.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A key plot point of that story is that St. Mark's Eve, April 24th, falls on Easter Monday. The only time that happened in the 19th century was 1848, so we can fix that one (in which Johnny is somewhere around sixteen years old) in the calendar and place the other stories around it. It works surprisingly well, in fact - all through the twenty years these papers were being written, the historical references all fit very neatly with the right years of the 1840s and 1850s without needing to be stretched in any kind of implausible way... except just once.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the last series of stories (sadly, the later ones do decline in quality a little) to appear in the Argosy is the three-part "Roger Bevere" saga (January-March 1884). With this one we return to the eventful trip to London Johnny made around the time of his twenty-first birthday, and pick up on his previous passing mentions to the black sheep of Johnny's guardian Mr Brandon's family, his nephew Roger.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Roger is a medical student in London, and London as seen through the eyes of Johnny Ludlow and Mrs Henry Wood is a terrible place for a young man to be. Temptation was everywhere. Sin was lurking around every corner. Mrs Wood was from Worcestershire, and had a deep distrust of the big city, which comes out more and more strongly in her writings as she gets older.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Johnny finally tracks down Roger in a part of London known as "the Bell-and-Clapper", named after a very noisy church of not at all the type that Johnny approves of. It's also next to an underground railway station, and its refreshment-room full of enticing bottles and staffed by women with strong-minded manners and "monstrous heads of hair". And it turns out Roger Bevere has been ensnared by the terrible attractions of this place in a way beyond Johnny's wildest fears! The respectable young man has MARRIED a loud, vulgar woman named Lizzie, whom he met when she was working at the refreshment-room bar!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But there's a problem with this, from the point of view of a chronologist. The Bell-and Clapper is fictitious, but Roger has been travelling from there to St Bartholomew's Hospital on the underground railway, and that's a real place - it's right by Farringdon station, the terminus of the first underground line... which opened in 1863.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The underground isn't even presented as a new thing in this story - it's well-established and has clearly been around for a good long while. The whole setting, in fact, doesn't feel at all like the London of the 1850s (which it should be when Johnny Ludlow is 21, unless all the other stories are wrong), but feels very like the bustling, modern London of 1884.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Lizzie is a very modern young lady. She drinks, laughs, disregards her husband's orders, makes a lot of noise and horrifies respectable people like Roger Bevere, who thoroughly regrets what he's done and desperately wants to keep it a secret from his family. A discussion between Johnny and Dr Pitt (who first appeared in the Johnny Ludlow stories as an outright villain, but subsequently turned out not to be responsible for the worst of it after all, and to have since stopped drinking and become a more decent person) digresses into great detail about how these underground railway refreshment rooms lead good young men into the devil's clutches and are responsible for corrupting good young women too.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgxEqmrIFE3lI2nCizUt073pjXjSVIb1OfUU3aEcsC91-ozWfvM42YJzA4ryjYO6ba-GzYNVXevEzngkx4gJD7NAIpFe3-7hFRb_BGQ_AOojW3WE5tS5qfernFqGinvPy1jmKBgL4OqEgCyQYi2q9pYuKOizJVp20YP87KeLzECCsuC9BHPHyq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="449" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgxEqmrIFE3lI2nCizUt073pjXjSVIb1OfUU3aEcsC91-ozWfvM42YJzA4ryjYO6ba-GzYNVXevEzngkx4gJD7NAIpFe3-7hFRb_BGQ_AOojW3WE5tS5qfernFqGinvPy1jmKBgL4OqEgCyQYi2q9pYuKOizJVp20YP87KeLzECCsuC9BHPHyq=w384-h640" width="384" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgxEqmrIFE3lI2nCizUt073pjXjSVIb1OfUU3aEcsC91-ozWfvM42YJzA4ryjYO6ba-GzYNVXevEzngkx4gJD7NAIpFe3-7hFRb_BGQ_AOojW3WE5tS5qfernFqGinvPy1jmKBgL4OqEgCyQYi2q9pYuKOizJVp20YP87KeLzECCsuC9BHPHyq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgke_XWIRO8iB8RDZqHluXcEKgbg7V9Pj2bs_8ooCs-E7utL5mkjy9SnORSHpmU_sjk7_2WtgUQt-_QgY8KshYbX35Lfc-i_xSdUDpc-IwYT0v9YFN6yn7iAQO99DRpcQVY9szdoIlre5qGt3AHDy58wOANn3GJNYux_-IzIVjpBSE0oIm9dz8N" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="446" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgke_XWIRO8iB8RDZqHluXcEKgbg7V9Pj2bs_8ooCs-E7utL5mkjy9SnORSHpmU_sjk7_2WtgUQt-_QgY8KshYbX35Lfc-i_xSdUDpc-IwYT0v9YFN6yn7iAQO99DRpcQVY9szdoIlre5qGt3AHDy58wOANn3GJNYux_-IzIVjpBSE0oIm9dz8N=w387-h640" width="387" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgke_XWIRO8iB8RDZqHluXcEKgbg7V9Pj2bs_8ooCs-E7utL5mkjy9SnORSHpmU_sjk7_2WtgUQt-_QgY8KshYbX35Lfc-i_xSdUDpc-IwYT0v9YFN6yn7iAQO99DRpcQVY9szdoIlre5qGt3AHDy58wOANn3GJNYux_-IzIVjpBSE0oIm9dz8N" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4LhkcqAK6792huIiAI3hUzVT93CZd8QpPNoL9mjm2l1JMWrglzJwgLRUwzx91GnJV85dBVlsI2HCt2BtkJo9h1K_woxaD0FAEvYuesFtqbNuXSc8UvmM-ddt9C8wCw2Mrdy3z95QlPx7_KLBseUIELW9v_ybhcXiIBx46fDRL4inouU0TBtSJ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4LhkcqAK6792huIiAI3hUzVT93CZd8QpPNoL9mjm2l1JMWrglzJwgLRUwzx91GnJV85dBVlsI2HCt2BtkJo9h1K_woxaD0FAEvYuesFtqbNuXSc8UvmM-ddt9C8wCw2Mrdy3z95QlPx7_KLBseUIELW9v_ybhcXiIBx46fDRL4inouU0TBtSJ=w384-h640" width="384" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxaZgCb6Zj9p_AUJB8O2r-UN1IdI26PDhtNpM2CpGRHETj1Mi9I1Pj8gMLmjrsDHiUaa47j7wBBCfYsHQZkPlsv-zAE4eCWIFA9-MXhOxz0BTyAcI9Kju0ICR7lU2T4jIF6P62BqsnnrVB9URydGxzZOteMjKtFiqLuL4U5CpGchOF6nHsleUO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="509" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxaZgCb6Zj9p_AUJB8O2r-UN1IdI26PDhtNpM2CpGRHETj1Mi9I1Pj8gMLmjrsDHiUaa47j7wBBCfYsHQZkPlsv-zAE4eCWIFA9-MXhOxz0BTyAcI9Kju0ICR7lU2T4jIF6P62BqsnnrVB9URydGxzZOteMjKtFiqLuL4U5CpGchOF6nHsleUO=w363-h640" width="363" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYfmCFgQ1x2b0598lJMOXaSIT48QhZQTsbnApS1ODCWNTluLLH-ahrKQmIZ3vAy0tdQFZAwRyh7V1E8EvHypPVueYYUFKOhVKEcLD9eUWufx0jgU2PCJJDc7TDWpgh6_u66Jt5Qu2T6OOUXDO33VcToPchkWCxSqnJZFMRHSogQ7wimBBguHXT" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="521" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYfmCFgQ1x2b0598lJMOXaSIT48QhZQTsbnApS1ODCWNTluLLH-ahrKQmIZ3vAy0tdQFZAwRyh7V1E8EvHypPVueYYUFKOhVKEcLD9eUWufx0jgU2PCJJDc7TDWpgh6_u66Jt5Qu2T6OOUXDO33VcToPchkWCxSqnJZFMRHSogQ7wimBBguHXT=w400-h184" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">I feel I should point out that this extensive moralising is balanced by a lot of wonderful humour, creativity and even occasional radical tendencies in Mrs Henry Wood's writings - please don't be put off trying them by reading a passage like this one!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>And perhaps this is the reason for the chronological confusion. I think Johnny is editorialising - he's unhappy with the modern profusion of drinking places and loose women, and is taking this story as an opportunity to write about their evils at length! It also allows him to justify Roger Bevere's terrible marriage, giving his sort-of-relative an excuse that perhaps he didn't have in reality!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Because there's something else strange about this marriage. The reason for a marriage between someone like Roger and a woman in Lizzie's station of life was usually a baby, let's be honest here. But there's no mention of that (apart from a couple of coy hints from narrator Johnny that sometimes something else might happen in this kind of morally deficient place). Roger and Lizzie have been married for some eighteen months when Johnny catches up with him, but they seem to be sleeping in separate rooms and to all appearances have always done so.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> There's surely something Johnny is too discreet to tell us here (not that illegitimate births are unheard-of in Johnny Ludlow's papers, even in decent rural Worcestershire, but remember that Roger is Mr Brandon's nephew!). I think poor Roger Bevere was a worse man than Johnny wants to admit. He fell into bad ways before there was a supply of alcohol and attractive women at every underground station, got some loose woman in a scrape, got married and had to keep it a secret.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If we look at how the situation resolves itself, we can see where Johnny's sympathies lie. Two and a half years later, Johnny and Mr Brandon go for Christmas to Roger's mother (and Mr Brandon's sister) Lady Bevere and the rest of the family. Roger is more miserable than ever, still keeping his marriage a secret, and living apart from Lizzie, who's not been a day sober for the last two years. It emerges, funnily enough, that Lizzie is the sister of one of Lady Bevere's servants, unknown to any of them (Lizzie is under the impression that her surname is written as it's pronounced, 'Bevary', and has only seen 'Bevere' written down in a letter from her sister and thought it a different name entirely, pronounced 'Beveer') and Lizzie has come down to Essex to see her, not knowing that Roger is there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Everything is sure to come out, and Roger and Johnny are waiting in terror for her to arrive and make the situation known. The suspense nearly kills Roger, but it turns into a happy ending after all - Lizzie gets lost walking in the snow, with a bottle of brandy, and dies in a ditch. Roger never has to tell anyone his dark secret, and can now "pull up" from his bad ways and become a decent member of society again. He does have the decency to secretly pay for Lizzie's burial expenses, at least. The ending sums up the relief the reader is expected to feel for the poor man:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8HUuJ2OyIFBwqHqGbaRm5BnXFayAkKHcl_8Y7d-JJDaaCH5QoOjXiCNNa6JwbBIbL7zhaSgi0NrHLtA9GOtVLwFEDoWaXfYerN3PlkBdcAO38RFwOMU2kLMCG5mon1BpON14_AVlYyL1-Wp48-UC2stzkAJS1wJsDwsi6iUWwT2HvjYIRQQYu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="445" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8HUuJ2OyIFBwqHqGbaRm5BnXFayAkKHcl_8Y7d-JJDaaCH5QoOjXiCNNa6JwbBIbL7zhaSgi0NrHLtA9GOtVLwFEDoWaXfYerN3PlkBdcAO38RFwOMU2kLMCG5mon1BpON14_AVlYyL1-Wp48-UC2stzkAJS1wJsDwsi6iUWwT2HvjYIRQQYu=w640-h260" width="640" /></a></div><br />I think a modern reader is less touched by Roger's narrow escape from the horrors of 'exposure' and more inclined to wonder just how dark the skeleton in Mr Brandon's closet really was. Merry Christmas to one and all!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-77131570234713298152023-12-16T19:58:00.000+00:002023-12-16T19:58:51.570+00:00I always end up playing a shepherd<div>I'm always pleased to see in my Blogger stats that someone has been looking at my analysis of how frequently characters appear in the Peanuts comic strip. You can check them out here if you're the kind of super-cool person who finds them interesting!</div>
<div><br /></div><a href="http://zoomy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/lets-have-party-with-charlie-brown-and.html">1950s</a>
<a href="http://zoomy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/nuts.html">1960s</a>
<a href="http://zoomy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/peanuts-in-seventies.html">1970s</a>
<a href="http://zoomy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/good-grief-more-peanuts.html">1980s</a>
<a href="http://zoomy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-last-of-peanuts.html">1990s</a>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But let's talk about just one character today - the forgotten one who was there from the start but faded away long before the end. I'm talking, of course, about Shermy!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shermy is one of the three characters who appear in the very first Peanuts strip. Indeed, he's the one who delivers all the dialogue!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzEBgaUYOhP3PMpBjkwpvPenqMK9rGlp8plTTR9crnhMWiTqRzpo-EvVwn5gdBD5pmy7awyqwSZ73vjAPO9ejST7wRPQ5Q57G6L_dSSTK3OFoEpkmOViNQdo-yyplhswE3PwvK95YKgHj5g0qypy4YWfiYifM_q5gI5t8ZhJDOpGGfDtPvOOdY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="1118" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzEBgaUYOhP3PMpBjkwpvPenqMK9rGlp8plTTR9crnhMWiTqRzpo-EvVwn5gdBD5pmy7awyqwSZ73vjAPO9ejST7wRPQ5Q57G6L_dSSTK3OFoEpkmOViNQdo-yyplhswE3PwvK95YKgHj5g0qypy4YWfiYifM_q5gI5t8ZhJDOpGGfDtPvOOdY=w640-h128" width="640" /></a></div><br />It takes him a while to get a name, unlike Charlie Brown (who, like a lot of the earliest strips, is an echo of Charles Schulz's previous comic "Li'l Folks"), but Shermy is a central character for the first few months. Snoopy is just a dog who shows up now and then; back in October 1950 there's a series of strips that seem to suggest he belongs to Shermy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But as the series develops, Charlie Brown becomes the central focus and Shermy starts to be seen less and less. New and more interesting characters appear - first Schroeder and then Linus make their debuts as babies but soon come to take over Shermy's role as a sidekick and straight man to Charlie Brown, Snoopy or the new big star Lucy. By the end of the fifties, we're really not seeing much of Shermy at all.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1960 might be Shermy's last year as any kind of regular presence in Peanuts - he appears in twelve strips that year - so let's start this story with 1961 and follow Peanuts through the rest of the decade. It's an important decade, because as well as the newspaper comics we got the debut of the animated cartoon specials! There were also comic books featuring original stories (as far as I can tell, poor Shermy never showed up in them) and other merchandise too - Peanuts was big business in the sixties! Except perhaps for the original star...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is what we see of Shermy in the sixties!</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>1 January 1961</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCBq-SRMp2_0aRhJXT5LyM0MrEHObPE1IIXQL3IUU8giQlm5taPJh8RER-KP1Ma6Cj2AESy6z8h_8wMZ8-IiyH-Jz0fmkwG8bjUp7uJmPIrHcaXMWKfQVc6JwMW4xawe3AFLFmCEYkGq-Lt_XNStb8LJPUsiP_8-Oh6Q1FV9hKRKKfhDpoek8e" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1116" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCBq-SRMp2_0aRhJXT5LyM0MrEHObPE1IIXQL3IUU8giQlm5taPJh8RER-KP1Ma6Cj2AESy6z8h_8wMZ8-IiyH-Jz0fmkwG8bjUp7uJmPIrHcaXMWKfQVc6JwMW4xawe3AFLFmCEYkGq-Lt_XNStb8LJPUsiP_8-Oh6Q1FV9hKRKKfhDpoek8e=w640-h436" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">We start the new year by showing Shermy as one of 'the boys' - note the gradation of heights running from Shermy the tallest down to Linus the shortest, although Schroeder has by this point almost completely caught up with Charlie Brown. It's become very rare to see Shermy just hanging out with the others like this; he's only there when a strip needs a comically large number of people to be taught a lesson all at once.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>11 April 1961</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNeNCnZqw3a5MHlu-jE03MUO0Oghxjt9qnpj1yEPLFK9mNdX0M83wZhuND-UnKpHYbtfZpWa6jpCVT59q4G1MxqQWn8AtutDVbaMC89-lItHrZayAvzK69y7F6ashAo1VizOPWVzuWGiTSQ7YRFHJKIXZXlNvS3SZNvXxgNf6hPRurm-rbbt-P" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="1124" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNeNCnZqw3a5MHlu-jE03MUO0Oghxjt9qnpj1yEPLFK9mNdX0M83wZhuND-UnKpHYbtfZpWa6jpCVT59q4G1MxqQWn8AtutDVbaMC89-lItHrZayAvzK69y7F6ashAo1VizOPWVzuWGiTSQ7YRFHJKIXZXlNvS3SZNvXxgNf6hPRurm-rbbt-P=w640-h134" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shermy's next appearance, three and a half months later, shows him in the role he'll be most often seen in here - as one of Charlie Brown's spectacularly unsuccessful baseball team.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The team consists of the nine regular characters in Peanuts at the time it was introduced - Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Schroeder, Lucy, Linus, Shermy, Patty, Violet and Pig-Pen. We don't often see the full team gathered together. Sally made her debut in 1959 but doesn't ever join her big brother's team, and by April 1961 the strip had gained an eleventh character, Frieda, who was also seen on the baseball team at times, but Shermy remains a usually-unseen presence at first base.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's become the only thing he really does in Peanuts - Schroeder has baseball and piano and Lucy jokes, Patty and Violet get to bully Charlie Brown outside baseball stories, but Shermy's only real purpose now is to make up the numbers on the baseball team. He does usually tend to be presented as a competent player, at least!</div><br /><b>18 June 1961</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgp83AMN0XHGzYvmci8f54QZfQ6DTBkI-5OC1wQcyd5byh_vWO5TAKjFLBRAX4RgkucoXRQdygPnfo3ajrlswMXg2gDC5CaeJ2bCAZNOnAj2LjeD1AxcpHoD6K3aO8RtBhIdT9uvsCjbUqx9xq1Pikhj-5C4GXOndfX4HOAYKrUFq0e7c72_6ji" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="740" data-original-width="1098" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgp83AMN0XHGzYvmci8f54QZfQ6DTBkI-5OC1wQcyd5byh_vWO5TAKjFLBRAX4RgkucoXRQdygPnfo3ajrlswMXg2gDC5CaeJ2bCAZNOnAj2LjeD1AxcpHoD6K3aO8RtBhIdT9uvsCjbUqx9xq1Pikhj-5C4GXOndfX4HOAYKrUFq0e7c72_6ji=w640-h432" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just a glimpse of the back of Shermy's head in the final panel.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><b>23 July 1961</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdYetSjO3Dkoqsrs9CDQAtg9V1OImNDlLsN30mc0YEPkuEYtbTmkJbhCwY0QpRGr5A0h53zAPwMWScFespGnN_Xvk1rDnM7YatHneKG5oXP7hV0crYFYIFEzMrsm9nbu66UkdDjlpWmvaWDHf6GTbd5AlNCV1n-lKICm8HGVaGmXLJB17gwZii" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1108" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdYetSjO3Dkoqsrs9CDQAtg9V1OImNDlLsN30mc0YEPkuEYtbTmkJbhCwY0QpRGr5A0h53zAPwMWScFespGnN_Xvk1rDnM7YatHneKG5oXP7hV0crYFYIFEzMrsm9nbu66UkdDjlpWmvaWDHf6GTbd5AlNCV1n-lKICm8HGVaGmXLJB17gwZii=w640-h434" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVRgTuD4pzvL8uDefY4FZ9ptUwmjAL6EQTVEOH0q6F0iFD-T99TIjVwWT3yFxV1QSsRB5Ppb10xnF22Vy-qVFWNsrE-LPVPpkpDlw4bDjM19x9iWxysdudf13xPW1EUXEYSWS7nFVyXsnaHgs_0QTxyrOdJQEa0Hv9f2kV1lbLd9QPIR7EoWPW" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="430" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVRgTuD4pzvL8uDefY4FZ9ptUwmjAL6EQTVEOH0q6F0iFD-T99TIjVwWT3yFxV1QSsRB5Ppb10xnF22Vy-qVFWNsrE-LPVPpkpDlw4bDjM19x9iWxysdudf13xPW1EUXEYSWS7nFVyXsnaHgs_0QTxyrOdJQEa0Hv9f2kV1lbLd9QPIR7EoWPW" width="179" /></a></div><br />Sunday strips in newspapers had to be drawn in a strict format, so that they could be presented in one of three layouts, depending how much space the paper wanted to allocate to it. The above is the 'full' version, but it was also possible to omit the second panel and restructure it like this.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Or alternatively, the paper could also drop the title panel, and just show the three shorter rows. So each Sunday strip had to be written in such a way that the title panel was unnecessary, and the second panel was super-unnecessary to the overall story, because a lot of readers wouldn't get to see them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shermy is becoming the kind of character who appears in the first two panels a lot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><b>10 December 1961</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXvz62bHrb5gZyMxIBGqlyiZIgDjsxqBEGnit4GXORHJSxQ8788GkfciVA3nKb7_kuAW6Ah9EZngF5w30RUTFKDndjphPCLQx5EdFt-XKtIyYI2Kl8x9g3ftlmbcUGhb6I3oYtbXLyzB0IcqO1ScK-8gzpnhHTjHAXIXYR5GCYtY1uEwOklEP8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1107" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXvz62bHrb5gZyMxIBGqlyiZIgDjsxqBEGnit4GXORHJSxQ8788GkfciVA3nKb7_kuAW6Ah9EZngF5w30RUTFKDndjphPCLQx5EdFt-XKtIyYI2Kl8x9g3ftlmbcUGhb6I3oYtbXLyzB0IcqO1ScK-8gzpnhHTjHAXIXYR5GCYtY1uEwOklEP8=w640-h442" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shermy again only features in the disposable first two panels, before Linus comes in and reiterates the opening line for the benefit of the newspapers that give Peanuts less space.</div><br /><b>13 December 1961</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMTkZAbW0PvJ03uQYkzEOFGrHavCj_21pvP6Z2MiQP7T9v3ADFibk6dC7YCzRyFtqyhTXHSqCQsZxxMqbSkyr0mIFwNESmzB2gvTyj4cbOVy-e7jFsPWnF7EyvdRSn99KLoexuy49yV-VVONJzFGFLUj0iTpIDIiA-MLgOtmSUddIDbpgOhRD1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="1123" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMTkZAbW0PvJ03uQYkzEOFGrHavCj_21pvP6Z2MiQP7T9v3ADFibk6dC7YCzRyFtqyhTXHSqCQsZxxMqbSkyr0mIFwNESmzB2gvTyj4cbOVy-e7jFsPWnF7EyvdRSn99KLoexuy49yV-VVONJzFGFLUj0iTpIDIiA-MLgOtmSUddIDbpgOhRD1=w640-h138" width="640" /></a></div>This is an interesting one - Shermy shows some personality! In the service of one of Schulz's clever and subtle jabs at religion, our hero displays a materialistic streak that fits in with a recurring theme in the mid-1950s of Charlie Brown sighing despondently at Shermy having a much bigger train set than him, and similar. It's interesting that Shermy gets to feature in this one - it's more of a Linus thing to be overthinking Santa Claus, but this attitude is probably just too greedy to suit Linus. In later years it would suit Peppermint Patty, but she hadn't been invented yet, so Shermy gets the starring role for once!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>1 April 1962</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigdSs6W4DomS72WFsbIcESvIlUSlk68Pqgp1p8BXuJYNBlL05pVbUbT9La9Nc7JEraviY4ghTAXyjOzsAOjMCgbRlVQuHm94zk1lwSq_UypOFvTCaQnMV_pqM5G4iVfQIB5nTQbdzlcZJzF05kYQHRUu19fgMqZyPtvOlzrryoynWsfyOhOpkG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1130" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigdSs6W4DomS72WFsbIcESvIlUSlk68Pqgp1p8BXuJYNBlL05pVbUbT9La9Nc7JEraviY4ghTAXyjOzsAOjMCgbRlVQuHm94zk1lwSq_UypOFvTCaQnMV_pqM5G4iVfQIB5nTQbdzlcZJzF05kYQHRUu19fgMqZyPtvOlzrryoynWsfyOhOpkG=w640-h440" width="640" /></a></div>Into 1962 now, and Shermy has one panel caught up in the mob psychology and yelling at Charlie Brown. Which isn't really like him, but... well, Charlie Brown really is a blockhead, isn't he?<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>3 August 1962</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigpRfNKBJK3rWFdzK2qdkoEIy5iH-030SbmAZhbyWuO6h5oiG95AowMW1sYAQy2bSmG7eiNQb01FId8qxfIjsheWTG31DjriAJzyWZuCcBbvDwW9CA14EIKAoZsseYi3bDtY-Gk0SS16_NXT1ohDiAkfg2c9coZUGEg8ZyanVThzD8gBS8ePEX" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="1122" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigpRfNKBJK3rWFdzK2qdkoEIy5iH-030SbmAZhbyWuO6h5oiG95AowMW1sYAQy2bSmG7eiNQb01FId8qxfIjsheWTG31DjriAJzyWZuCcBbvDwW9CA14EIKAoZsseYi3bDtY-Gk0SS16_NXT1ohDiAkfg2c9coZUGEg8ZyanVThzD8gBS8ePEX=w640-h136" width="640" /></a></div>Four months later, and this is more like the Shermy we love. A series of daily strips in which the entire baseball team quit, and Shermy is very polite about it. Okay, he doesn't entirely appreciate Charlie Brown's good points as a manager, but he's older than CB, a good player, it's nice of him to stay on a team like this one!<br /><br /><b>21 September 1962</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjY4KlwPdaN6B51NlQgcUDW7nZUM-lAHVtBZlURI3Pt3bIEjqGB6OEOzbQHzA4EG6k05XLIx2t4yW2KCNbZmftO2zOZLO9-CDTTi6Mg3UY_uyWZcBEkxT1WXroPNmShh1LINvKas7xxTrcE2Dg0w2X53_w-yms27W5GLwn760mbJ5PcmfOUdMWs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="1118" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjY4KlwPdaN6B51NlQgcUDW7nZUM-lAHVtBZlURI3Pt3bIEjqGB6OEOzbQHzA4EG6k05XLIx2t4yW2KCNbZmftO2zOZLO9-CDTTi6Mg3UY_uyWZcBEkxT1WXroPNmShh1LINvKas7xxTrcE2Dg0w2X53_w-yms27W5GLwn760mbJ5PcmfOUdMWs=w640-h134" width="640" /></a></div>And suddenly, in September, another Shermy strip! He gets all the dialogue, he even gets to lean on the brick wall, and Charlie Brown is just the silent stooge! This strip was published on a Friday, incidentally, so it makes sense.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shermy is the only character whose hairstyle officially changes in the course of the Peanuts series - he gets his trademark crewcut in April 1953 and kept it forever after, but he obviously still cares about his hair now! <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>14 February 1963</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZPv0HL09HM3fQnBC5Dq7qMUFzOxy0QdNA9_4iExSVQxvPP3wRV0VhtcvynOVER1VKpfQLrfE7ieBk8xhq6aDRn_fmTmeU2sp3xFWc92k-LO6Bg79IHXzQmCSZ-gADXAebf_e5ESg1RIW3ou306IQDQ4_wRdVku1X08IlCWuLeM0Q5mNXYGe-p" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="1124" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZPv0HL09HM3fQnBC5Dq7qMUFzOxy0QdNA9_4iExSVQxvPP3wRV0VhtcvynOVER1VKpfQLrfE7ieBk8xhq6aDRn_fmTmeU2sp3xFWc92k-LO6Bg79IHXzQmCSZ-gADXAebf_e5ESg1RIW3ou306IQDQ4_wRdVku1X08IlCWuLeM0Q5mNXYGe-p=w640-h134" width="640" /></a></div>We don't see Shermy again until Valentine's Day 1963, but the day clearly goes better for him than it always does for poor old Charlie Brown.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>25 March 1963</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5bYzo_Z1Jq1H94HQx_cz8mKGqRz_DrPWkYXXv8E1m2aSf3FJh84-6ze3OoFzdjCnE0JPa_zmglnA-a2sjV_ObEjzyKAXWt3gB653DQnwE9n3KHOzo5mlvEX02HBcXaqpE9IMq6tQ0y0hxPUW1cdJfdZGpIEH_WfiXHSDif653B0JkZmESGSBt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="1113" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5bYzo_Z1Jq1H94HQx_cz8mKGqRz_DrPWkYXXv8E1m2aSf3FJh84-6ze3OoFzdjCnE0JPa_zmglnA-a2sjV_ObEjzyKAXWt3gB653DQnwE9n3KHOzo5mlvEX02HBcXaqpE9IMq6tQ0y0hxPUW1cdJfdZGpIEH_WfiXHSDif653B0JkZmESGSBt=w640-h136" width="640" /></a></div>The baseball season of 1963 gives Shermy a few moments in the spotlight - first he joins in with the rest of the team as they share a hopeful outlook...<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>29 March 1963</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMqY2Rr17k6zUveZ-X46dWiPN5F8a17OZrYHBkxHX7Ol6F8zb3SYpM8MjszH2RTe2jI_jzSA4u9tia0QddSWTk6hY4gzbKkHRGN71y8KdyJzQ-I52XPmNgeiR6aGvulvnOvTC8mICMCrFb8MgUv_2iBS4Uqg3NCUNtqYGakbX4IV4gVWvGexXV" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="1119" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMqY2Rr17k6zUveZ-X46dWiPN5F8a17OZrYHBkxHX7Ol6F8zb3SYpM8MjszH2RTe2jI_jzSA4u9tia0QddSWTk6hY4gzbKkHRGN71y8KdyJzQ-I52XPmNgeiR6aGvulvnOvTC8mICMCrFb8MgUv_2iBS4Uqg3NCUNtqYGakbX4IV4gVWvGexXV=w640-h136" width="640" /></a></div>And then a few days later, he stands in the background of one more panel...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>4 April 1963</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj35FAOlpe2fvJ2hOkzijJjAWHaJO235wMxRpk22mdExWPDLqaQNW8NBNX1mPg4wCU375DxlpsrsfDSJuOps99DPYxk2mb8VOtCvl_AfUI6uWzrA1XF5MWLzVjiz3yCGYQAV5ViW7bNLy32ZS4fI0yEB31vxAlDBrUOY3FkYv4lv9YCaYx73dgL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="1130" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj35FAOlpe2fvJ2hOkzijJjAWHaJO235wMxRpk22mdExWPDLqaQNW8NBNX1mPg4wCU375DxlpsrsfDSJuOps99DPYxk2mb8VOtCvl_AfUI6uWzrA1XF5MWLzVjiz3yCGYQAV5ViW7bNLy32ZS4fI0yEB31vxAlDBrUOY3FkYv4lv9YCaYx73dgL=w640-h132" width="640" /></a></div>And then he gets to show off some not particularly impressive skills. But at least he's showing his face in the comic regularly for a change!<br /><br /><b>5 August 1963</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzvMrcXBIB9Y9UIvL16yjRzZqVId-HU-_brTj3ylPwp0P24k2_BEBBWfUh3Lo5pj0okGq_IILpl9w0V0oFuN3MtwCj4MBA8idZSLaGDoVs-HVmegMc6muElqgEbz193w1POZr3Dqi9_aLLBu-kaNWO2BnkyddZO4r4xKITRGPPfVCWlDegAH87" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="1116" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzvMrcXBIB9Y9UIvL16yjRzZqVId-HU-_brTj3ylPwp0P24k2_BEBBWfUh3Lo5pj0okGq_IILpl9w0V0oFuN3MtwCj4MBA8idZSLaGDoVs-HVmegMc6muElqgEbz193w1POZr3Dqi9_aLLBu-kaNWO2BnkyddZO4r4xKITRGPPfVCWlDegAH87=w640-h134" width="640" /></a></div>Four months later, Charlie Brown's team are looking almost like they might win something for the first time ever... but Charlie Brown still manages to mess it up. Shermy's on hand two days in a row to watch in horror!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>6 August 1963</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyt7y1SF5Ls7QvLlaFvTJHHuIlOg3W-g3qJdyUOPpAMw_NcS6UqsrxNIjlijsFmhNYYcQULrS6IaiiGOoJ8G4Km9byXGNLNugZhLTxQ9KG19emQ5Sm8kzF8DQoF71vJV8XCjEEHzp35QAxZFwhWjqEsplQRqo0N4CNGfaTgR4rAO0ut6jYL6Dw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="1121" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyt7y1SF5Ls7QvLlaFvTJHHuIlOg3W-g3qJdyUOPpAMw_NcS6UqsrxNIjlijsFmhNYYcQULrS6IaiiGOoJ8G4Km9byXGNLNugZhLTxQ9KG19emQ5Sm8kzF8DQoF71vJV8XCjEEHzp35QAxZFwhWjqEsplQRqo0N4CNGfaTgR4rAO0ut6jYL6Dw=w640-h138" width="640" /></a></div>Really, that unseen umpire is being very harsh here. Even if Charlie Brown is doing the same stupid thing twice in a row, give the poor kid a break, can't you?<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>1 March 1964</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigO5w4SOntO5aMpHjggwxy9cKGAV6ttVbfb6MhJKF5LSWHyGFP4PYyZEALhjwVKpyBH1278Jj2X0fsR7nfSdTBKRscYO7BpTSjJmPoyeL6BLKJHimzzPAHGd1qXeMbwIUAXjaSkySCI7LyoYO6qtWpiYGx5I1E447L9Qblp6qJcGw0dJsNyxQw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="1095" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigO5w4SOntO5aMpHjggwxy9cKGAV6ttVbfb6MhJKF5LSWHyGFP4PYyZEALhjwVKpyBH1278Jj2X0fsR7nfSdTBKRscYO7BpTSjJmPoyeL6BLKJHimzzPAHGd1qXeMbwIUAXjaSkySCI7LyoYO6qtWpiYGx5I1E447L9Qblp6qJcGw0dJsNyxQw" width="640" /></a></div>We don't see Shermy again until March the next year, and a 'movie line' Sunday strip. These became a regular thing in Peanuts, and are always a good opportunity to see a few seldom-seen characters. Shermy's at the back of the queue, but at least he's still here!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>24 March 1964</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF_N4CVW8rOddCAfy6_jXuIZ5L8nBylof7N4zTU5uYuu03Was20ooyBRo3My6t42lnmFC_IYKMFwLK2k0LVRnNeT7pmS0wBodxteq8M_9q2sZdFQ1LU9DoM0vO7mP5u8lpCneJvGlNjxkCmgY-ue5orTeduQ16qo6cion8OpfQQmSy-3v9OAz2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="1113" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjF_N4CVW8rOddCAfy6_jXuIZ5L8nBylof7N4zTU5uYuu03Was20ooyBRo3My6t42lnmFC_IYKMFwLK2k0LVRnNeT7pmS0wBodxteq8M_9q2sZdFQ1LU9DoM0vO7mP5u8lpCneJvGlNjxkCmgY-ue5orTeduQ16qo6cion8OpfQQmSy-3v9OAz2=w640-h132" width="640" /></a></div>And then it's baseball season again, and once more Shermy can't resist joining in when everyone's abusing their unfortunate manager...<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>7 April 1964</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiArtm8HQN6gGMZyVsTn2UIPOB_ujfXMumbckRNfTUJMRe93ks_VzIPLq-xUmrpwHLXg-X62Odxs5zZ-bE5Nayct2BCAIfyUjTCzTPOb3o44WsoO14ytZw-Vw9Gvz22dKkv6ptNHb9ghxggPGNHeAgq3fUK4sLrc2Izi6ve4cCb35G5ARFb17ob" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="1120" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiArtm8HQN6gGMZyVsTn2UIPOB_ujfXMumbckRNfTUJMRe93ks_VzIPLq-xUmrpwHLXg-X62Odxs5zZ-bE5Nayct2BCAIfyUjTCzTPOb3o44WsoO14ytZw-Vw9Gvz22dKkv6ptNHb9ghxggPGNHeAgq3fUK4sLrc2Izi6ve4cCb35G5ARFb17ob=w640-h138" width="640" /></a></div>A couple of weeks later, Charlie Brown's arm must be fully recovered, and it's another entire-cast comic (except, bizarrely, Linus).<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This turns out to be the last we see of Shermy for a whole year.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>18 April 1965</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEihQT_WxFHRS5m5I4k4QzFDHiZe5pzafDoYkGc0Y7UbaRjxlYixIpEAHgQPliQeriUSYxM2okEyvztp8k-CImAuVcX_CulV93GSmbrwWmLLH83r9b7JjETOPbEGJTYK8DAHtzsJa_lOcHAzEl3kiOmwu9vR3C_jcR3BBNlw_Oa5Pu_qAeGtExwD" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1116" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEihQT_WxFHRS5m5I4k4QzFDHiZe5pzafDoYkGc0Y7UbaRjxlYixIpEAHgQPliQeriUSYxM2okEyvztp8k-CImAuVcX_CulV93GSmbrwWmLLH83r9b7JjETOPbEGJTYK8DAHtzsJa_lOcHAzEl3kiOmwu9vR3C_jcR3BBNlw_Oa5Pu_qAeGtExwD=w640-h432" width="640" /></a></div>It's baseball season again in 1965, and the whole team are there. Except, once again, Linus! I'm starting to think he and Shermy just don't get along. Although this time, Snoopy is absent too, and 5 and Frieda seem to be on the team today. Sally presumably isn't one of the team, but has just joined the discussion, as is her usual habit.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Patty's point about movie ads and general morality is interesting, because at this time Schulz and others must have been working on "A Charlie Brown Christmas", the first animated TV special. It's been widely praised for its moral themes, although a lot of modern commentators don't know about the integrated commercials for Coca-Cola that were originally a part of the cartoon. You could have a whole baseball's game of discussion about the whole thing!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>27 November 1965</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjP2_wzUB0Tt4IEnOYhyxHnojDPfvnMb5Vji9apwpIzXa-b-1j5cIIWko8bzovykT2O3vh-BHllFUcqWdvVo44lFcsnKYNP4GziyoJSaGwzzTmzbIE0SWwCQJPL0Jx09Do-KGbaxhUfFvejvSXy1Ovs6Mys7EepTlHpzWSHE5K4Il4hYmP790nc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="1123" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjP2_wzUB0Tt4IEnOYhyxHnojDPfvnMb5Vji9apwpIzXa-b-1j5cIIWko8bzovykT2O3vh-BHllFUcqWdvVo44lFcsnKYNP4GziyoJSaGwzzTmzbIE0SWwCQJPL0Jx09Do-KGbaxhUfFvejvSXy1Ovs6Mys7EepTlHpzWSHE5K4Il4hYmP790nc=w640-h130" width="640" /></a></div>Seven months later, we get another brief glimpse of Shermy in another movie line. He hasn't said a word for a year and a half now. But we're about to hear him and see him move for the first time!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>4 December 1965</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzj5lXcX6s1VRV-_jYvC6rFRA-Hv5TZmentStxZxWujsAKSEtQOiILf19SFN5ECjRW8lREduQy4kyuiunuLU76swr02a7WXVvDpFRN1UoesNfzj_RqbREaxQdCSTPPlRxFuoBYk1oGw9N6bkuRv4r_-1pVyX1lDxxDm6CMEt_WFc-AHJXqGh4X" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="985" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzj5lXcX6s1VRV-_jYvC6rFRA-Hv5TZmentStxZxWujsAKSEtQOiILf19SFN5ECjRW8lREduQy4kyuiunuLU76swr02a7WXVvDpFRN1UoesNfzj_RqbREaxQdCSTPPlRxFuoBYk1oGw9N6bkuRv4r_-1pVyX1lDxxDm6CMEt_WFc-AHJXqGh4X=w640-h444" width="640" /></a></div>If you bought TV Guide, you could see this trailer for the new cartoon special! Is Shermy one of the kids singing "Jingle Those Crazy Bells"? The girls seem to be Frieda, Patty and Sally, but it does look like it could be Shermy in there too. And he's coming to our TV screens now!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>9 December 1965</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnUvCrpGKoN9CR2EY0tDBoVh0MHyCXME_jcyAuFvTrw6rIlyue-xXZcg2a5wF-h7kRPjsyewSutSLvXW5sQYmSmleMtSBjmq4t4owdBZBM6miFbl_OuEyG8T48xkkTDx5xCRZAqJVB71ou8ysfCkZlJCceuUuo9Jdyo4AtsjbV35dWveQOyBBN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="647" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnUvCrpGKoN9CR2EY0tDBoVh0MHyCXME_jcyAuFvTrw6rIlyue-xXZcg2a5wF-h7kRPjsyewSutSLvXW5sQYmSmleMtSBjmq4t4owdBZBM6miFbl_OuEyG8T48xkkTDx5xCRZAqJVB71ou8ysfCkZlJCceuUuo9Jdyo4AtsjbV35dWveQOyBBN" width="635" /></a></div>"A Charlie Brown Christmas" made its debut on television on this date, and Shermy is visible right from the start, skating with the others in a yellow coat. He doesn't get involved in much of the story, but he shows up here and there. Most famously, he does his Frankenstein dance when everybody's ignoring director Charlie Brown at the Christmas play rehearsals!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiWqi8HOPQOeglYXwhiuD-94J21Wih5IThdpCFJJlkoJslfDx6pgphypE9MG6tq-HfT_GuSdhscbRObG7rd5ebI4UPCilGxS6D87N9vP0R3hulOsCyXU0sy5GbdsBUvkISJW8Da5ftZX9fAK5eUfF5Oaw77Y6Vx4a_j-E5KjkgyPcz4Re3Ljw/s264/CBXmasDance.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiWqi8HOPQOeglYXwhiuD-94J21Wih5IThdpCFJJlkoJslfDx6pgphypE9MG6tq-HfT_GuSdhscbRObG7rd5ebI4UPCilGxS6D87N9vP0R3hulOsCyXU0sy5GbdsBUvkISJW8Da5ftZX9fAK5eUfF5Oaw77Y6Vx4a_j-E5KjkgyPcz4Re3Ljw/s16000/CBXmasDance.gif" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And then Lucy tells him what he's going to be in the play...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghqUFfuwrn9F41a_tq2KKkkALL4hCYaUVJYFcf1HprQUDA_bVCb7Ixl0jKjcmRk-nlV4R9K9dKroZp951l5nGy74EK2iw72hrAnOIN3ZYe-H8k4RTziaTfSi9_ijeIDS2hCgDc9R_VpKeybiLLqpcEWNqICLkE7CHD8gt7TGFgKctSLUqExB4j" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="656" height="485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghqUFfuwrn9F41a_tq2KKkkALL4hCYaUVJYFcf1HprQUDA_bVCb7Ixl0jKjcmRk-nlV4R9K9dKroZp951l5nGy74EK2iw72hrAnOIN3ZYe-H8k4RTziaTfSi9_ijeIDS2hCgDc9R_VpKeybiLLqpcEWNqICLkE7CHD8gt7TGFgKctSLUqExB4j=w640-h485" width="640" /></a></div></div>Shermy turns to the camera and delivers his only line, a famous quote for the perpetually overlooked - "Every Christmas it's the same. I always end up playing a shepherd."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After that, he's nothing but a background presence. In the final scene around the Christmas tree he's either drawn badly or mistakenly drawn as 5 (who's on the other side of the group). But still, it's a memorable performance!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>22 March 1966</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil01fX1m8w5kv8Wj95JUTildbB1HK8GhL6kz3hYcv-V6WUZrfwObkz4qa_1otoRqKRT01HsNuVSZMtd-X_kFkukaaS11Caou5Lh4hMrQpXK-cVJzryNnTZ5SOdY_G96lV6iEDNXFwIWvZWZ4f9qADusYOJIwje23rSjDa3jMxtlkXyYqpfhM60" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="1123" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEil01fX1m8w5kv8Wj95JUTildbB1HK8GhL6kz3hYcv-V6WUZrfwObkz4qa_1otoRqKRT01HsNuVSZMtd-X_kFkukaaS11Caou5Lh4hMrQpXK-cVJzryNnTZ5SOdY_G96lV6iEDNXFwIWvZWZ4f9qADusYOJIwje23rSjDa3jMxtlkXyYqpfhM60=w640-h132" width="640" /></a></div>Into 1966, and Shermy's never going to understand Charlie Brown's love life.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>27 March 1966</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEix0F0zMG8ya7wtmGTXfqknfkPrFYtnkwGEZbz3z48XoBXNZbSib-78ePepmB_OhghC7-8ewCPionQy4QWSM_w6wbvZffzKqPqG4V5qUAs3zpmNk695O6ku852gy1Ids_ftdip7Ujbk5wZN6JMYeglqct_2xXmA0P5hT_VOvLOJa6D0YHDg3hnG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1125" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEix0F0zMG8ya7wtmGTXfqknfkPrFYtnkwGEZbz3z48XoBXNZbSib-78ePepmB_OhghC7-8ewCPionQy4QWSM_w6wbvZffzKqPqG4V5qUAs3zpmNk695O6ku852gy1Ids_ftdip7Ujbk5wZN6JMYeglqct_2xXmA0P5hT_VOvLOJa6D0YHDg3hnG" width="640" /></a></div></div>And nor is he likely to understand Charlie Brown's motivational speeches, but he's still there with the rest of the baseball team.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>8 May 1966</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEie8odiW3qITyLUMpyauaQBErDRP2movgN16Llv3t-YkDEK6SPiDdHJukEOoOZRjIrC6yIFRgnLxEwkPsnq6fJvJV5ivsAYeC6EYyo3Nxdg9cIBAHW7gF3WY-9xFVVNqiBVoODJ-lgn7KNxrm2xvCxaxX-l7XQN6TWB9ZmahbdOKHXke6JEX0mt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1118" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEie8odiW3qITyLUMpyauaQBErDRP2movgN16Llv3t-YkDEK6SPiDdHJukEOoOZRjIrC6yIFRgnLxEwkPsnq6fJvJV5ivsAYeC6EYyo3Nxdg9cIBAHW7gF3WY-9xFVVNqiBVoODJ-lgn7KNxrm2xvCxaxX-l7XQN6TWB9ZmahbdOKHXke6JEX0mt=w640-h436" width="640" /></a></div>More baseball for Mother's Day, and Shermy laments "We're no good!" among the general lamentation. Which sets us up nicely for another animated special!<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>8 June 1966</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjMOlN8UBYL3LXCEvJ0u8xVW4yGd4rvkYS0liedqFd_qhY1kkzgG6nQXc-BOQrNaJDfNCtEPIMbqIG6Q4NKSucPKsOHarF3-QVOvj5RfKgel3shUK4k-67YaVbwPO9rDGTczIWLQhi_0xDz2d6T63Eqkd6RedbTVJNApysC3bZSK73Jg8Ol_xG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="656" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjMOlN8UBYL3LXCEvJ0u8xVW4yGd4rvkYS0liedqFd_qhY1kkzgG6nQXc-BOQrNaJDfNCtEPIMbqIG6Q4NKSucPKsOHarF3-QVOvj5RfKgel3shUK4k-67YaVbwPO9rDGTczIWLQhi_0xDz2d6T63Eqkd6RedbTVJNApysC3bZSK73Jg8Ol_xG=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div>"Charlie Brown's All Stars", the second TV special, appeared on the airwaves. Shermy (just about visible in the back of the opening scene here) is seen on the team in scenes repeating the gags from a lot of baseball episodes on the newspaper strip.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSD7-vyn0OHCMKQY1Zh2nlQLFHp9cWU3-IKBUYMu4DXN9k6ZwDVSoDfOCtsLVm91r5QJt_ZDXDT6i3-lK67Jfu0_iN_DpKNoGiJx2CXOPTSub2Q3RMRGyM2S8Uq1dDzxL2W_ruQQMEcGo3IkVbLxyzSgT6KmDnllrpqNDvBb08BTUJGwbrcKlO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="401" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSD7-vyn0OHCMKQY1Zh2nlQLFHp9cWU3-IKBUYMu4DXN9k6ZwDVSoDfOCtsLVm91r5QJt_ZDXDT6i3-lK67Jfu0_iN_DpKNoGiJx2CXOPTSub2Q3RMRGyM2S8Uq1dDzxL2W_ruQQMEcGo3IkVbLxyzSgT6KmDnllrpqNDvBb08BTUJGwbrcKlO=w640-h478" width="640" /></a></div> He joins in the group shoutings of 'you blockhead!', and delivers his line from the 3 August 1962 strip above when the team all quit.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyz67fe0Y91C8aJQzqGegdBO6KkJq6Zg7jDtmmPGFnPpQfy3vYVUUC5z0GNnG_eCpnb8gB2u7_yh0M7IUZPwWqHlieTJd1lhUjwsgLhjXG8Ll6pBWC_iIjuGc-OiDe86bhE47VWZ8JkPMZXJsvZ_TRS5s5Gw-6_L55gWhCbuEb3_nnMr5A2a97" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1286" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjyz67fe0Y91C8aJQzqGegdBO6KkJq6Zg7jDtmmPGFnPpQfy3vYVUUC5z0GNnG_eCpnb8gB2u7_yh0M7IUZPwWqHlieTJd1lhUjwsgLhjXG8Ll6pBWC_iIjuGc-OiDe86bhE47VWZ8JkPMZXJsvZ_TRS5s5Gw-6_L55gWhCbuEb3_nnMr5A2a97" width="640" /></a></div>Perhaps his coolest moment is in the skateboarding scene, when he's the first to skate through the girls' skipping. But he largely disappears from the second half of the story.<br /><br /><b>27 October 1966</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" was on TV for Halloween. Shermy doesn't seem to be in it, but a lot of online sources say he's there, crediting the same actor who played Schroeder with doing his voice, so maybe I'm just missing something. He might well be one of the ghosts in the trick-or-treat sequence...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">He's certainly absent from the next two specials, "You're In Love" and "He's Your Dog". Shermy's cartoon career seems to be as short-lived as his time in the comics.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>7 November 1966</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghqy5xCcPBcKNH2u3kU-yyiSSRRF8YNxFCV0vekcBsMDj42okhkidzEJC23RXaNfnwfWxSTvZaJGJXrdGiLybOIw1fVZK0JE81yp9okSbvyk9-mjat-jyjEIbPxTUFwy9MVORP595R49hPHzHiqjV_PV4LIJNuU0vfxQqIWUfD55YmYuvQksCI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="1121" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghqy5xCcPBcKNH2u3kU-yyiSSRRF8YNxFCV0vekcBsMDj42okhkidzEJC23RXaNfnwfWxSTvZaJGJXrdGiLybOIw1fVZK0JE81yp9okSbvyk9-mjat-jyjEIbPxTUFwy9MVORP595R49hPHzHiqjV_PV4LIJNuU0vfxQqIWUfD55YmYuvQksCI=w640-h136" width="640" /></a></div>He gets a bit of a run in the newspapers in November 1966, though - first in this one, which incidentally proves that Charlie Brown <i>does</i> know the little red-haired girl's name (unless even the school address her as such).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>12 November 1966</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqIFD_OEmsoDryGxvXeGys-t2OtGskYRcSmq_-IqOg8bx1gOtklf5X2hFd_J-KaNSazDeQ4lFvAZR4NYipGou4ZuY8JpIH8zzJEzDYC5FRj7mzcIiROR2lm6hznu0YXcqdNtPTYS3xz44UGFyPqagTn_IUvK37GlnboUjncu4DJCSpb4l83Veg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="1122" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqIFD_OEmsoDryGxvXeGys-t2OtGskYRcSmq_-IqOg8bx1gOtklf5X2hFd_J-KaNSazDeQ4lFvAZR4NYipGou4ZuY8JpIH8zzJEzDYC5FRj7mzcIiROR2lm6hznu0YXcqdNtPTYS3xz44UGFyPqagTn_IUvK37GlnboUjncu4DJCSpb4l83Veg=w640-h138" width="640" /></a></div>And now he's defending Charlie Brown against Violet's gossip!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>14 November 1966</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdomNosJcYiwxvJKLgtcl6cWjV3YUiDAUnF8fbRoAozmJHnzVcRvGeZhuNOHWvU69ftiEsPGVd_1MBSdumvizQlkWYyYBOUIalEC-jDP3pVpKHAWToRIhLIjuXXRNZ2LYr3MrqtVGStcCTFIpybx3bEU7wQ3Jzt9GG0g56lP8RRq_tb02M5LMz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="1115" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdomNosJcYiwxvJKLgtcl6cWjV3YUiDAUnF8fbRoAozmJHnzVcRvGeZhuNOHWvU69ftiEsPGVd_1MBSdumvizQlkWYyYBOUIalEC-jDP3pVpKHAWToRIhLIjuXXRNZ2LYr3MrqtVGStcCTFIpybx3bEU7wQ3Jzt9GG0g56lP8RRq_tb02M5LMz=w640-h134" width="640" /></a></div>And with good cause - Charlie Brown's got a promotion! But Shermy doesn't feature in the rest of this storyline.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>13 February 1967</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQkH3Sm53HSIeMJ1pk1tR1DeHlD8Fy_jopxYPQ2rdh2HArVCsRNzHvH37fm3dOfjehFUJzVkDxnXwFaMQJNVczfUDXrwC_68oz5hmrZJM88idcBBFIy4erCGg5TDwtT1cmDGmjdyBQTNxW7f_MZlL5TMWkuxSZovBpqxiBynGJrpyZ8F9hW4am" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="1121" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQkH3Sm53HSIeMJ1pk1tR1DeHlD8Fy_jopxYPQ2rdh2HArVCsRNzHvH37fm3dOfjehFUJzVkDxnXwFaMQJNVczfUDXrwC_68oz5hmrZJM88idcBBFIy4erCGg5TDwtT1cmDGmjdyBQTNxW7f_MZlL5TMWkuxSZovBpqxiBynGJrpyZ8F9hW4am=w640-h136" width="640" /></a></div>Into 1967, and Shermy's excited by the big arm-wrestling contest between Snoopy and Lucy!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>23 April 1967</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyZ8v0ef6JNFRMngzNOJQuHTv9REXhyFmDfu5dYosV_BCSE7U-TUXUME3V-lwN9p-uChs7K2xYqU222DUH39sEG2kKn01yPMaSb8elJdgEdD8ml2LYIgCBHbH_YXpm1WG0O75v-jF06yaBoOaFHBooyHW8vUUpVoWo5SQsKMVtp5hSgLTvCTMR" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1105" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyZ8v0ef6JNFRMngzNOJQuHTv9REXhyFmDfu5dYosV_BCSE7U-TUXUME3V-lwN9p-uChs7K2xYqU222DUH39sEG2kKn01yPMaSb8elJdgEdD8ml2LYIgCBHbH_YXpm1WG0O75v-jF06yaBoOaFHBooyHW8vUUpVoWo5SQsKMVtp5hSgLTvCTMR=w640-h442" width="640" /></a></div>Another movie line, this time crossing over with the World War I Flying Ace. It might be the first time Shermy meets Roy (the one with the hat), if they sit close to each other in the cinema.<br /><br /><b>12 June 1967</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxpmIBk0vYSmi6AIq4UNJvsWIl1fhYXTyPgXoL55CMb1TmHH-KYgxJc2wJ5xssyRc83BP2rgvBngo_2oWFkb-nW7y97g8Nsn21Ew52vTrkdrIGS206t-HBV5phlJYigpfLDuOOzJeVJ2hXjLrGxRRZ3BAcaRJ29rrlHog4y4M2-O72TDODtnEP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="402" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxpmIBk0vYSmi6AIq4UNJvsWIl1fhYXTyPgXoL55CMb1TmHH-KYgxJc2wJ5xssyRc83BP2rgvBngo_2oWFkb-nW7y97g8Nsn21Ew52vTrkdrIGS206t-HBV5phlJYigpfLDuOOzJeVJ2hXjLrGxRRZ3BAcaRJ29rrlHog4y4M2-O72TDODtnEP=w640-h483" width="640" /></a></div>"You're In Love, Charlie Brown" includes someone who's probably meant to be Shermy, running around with the rest of the regular cast. Or it might be 5. Anyway, he doesn't speak or do anything else.<br /><br /><b>17 September 1967</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqD3zvefNI8xxTAA_a5BIENOGbYCVX_WtwcU1MhV3AvBbCiEE8pZkUrJ7wnkM1NX5izdaBFv2afU5vEpxwXtlbOELnECj9bd0yvYmjibqZgnxv1M_shwoQqIyvACrKLPHYdRKAY4X3-zxqxkFo-qo9L0I4Zxrp8P_vCv5feIdYayAP7RZf_lp7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1108" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqD3zvefNI8xxTAA_a5BIENOGbYCVX_WtwcU1MhV3AvBbCiEE8pZkUrJ7wnkM1NX5izdaBFv2afU5vEpxwXtlbOELnECj9bd0yvYmjibqZgnxv1M_shwoQqIyvACrKLPHYdRKAY4X3-zxqxkFo-qo9L0I4Zxrp8P_vCv5feIdYayAP7RZf_lp7=w640-h442" width="640" /></a></div>They're not much of a baseball team, but when it comes to critical analysis of the Book of Job, they win every time. Shermy, though, just stands silently and listens to Linus, looking as blank as Snoopy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, as you can see, Shermy hasn't actually disappeared completely from the newspaper comics. But someone at Mad Magazine seems to have got the idea that he's gone, and used him as the lead character in their "March 1968" dated issue, which apparently went on sale a bit earlier than that...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>26 December 1967</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUogKXAkNczyE-wKsFd6Qv5Cv-ub4viq_pwY_6L7Cbmh62ARf_LftzsHBpw4AnzkFEf1nAatkmWNM0vPmZrHAsR59XswU6v3n8FC2D3L6i3wjOdZCTnUsK8NiSsiDBGUb86n16JIboWYufd1xOnF_5iiQLqS2nBmqvaXoE4rYbYyiCCYosPUjX/s2414/Sherm%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1612" data-original-width="2414" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUogKXAkNczyE-wKsFd6Qv5Cv-ub4viq_pwY_6L7Cbmh62ARf_LftzsHBpw4AnzkFEf1nAatkmWNM0vPmZrHAsR59XswU6v3n8FC2D3L6i3wjOdZCTnUsK8NiSsiDBGUb86n16JIboWYufd1xOnF_5iiQLqS2nBmqvaXoE4rYbYyiCCYosPUjX/w640-h428/Sherm%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPzn_O7fNHUzurB6fjhzQg4Xe_e6Nd-UUe_jPmRexUX5ihREAzCvLlFAEbqngBv_XPjy9ZpEl7eREa1jOsCfhDMaNfpEgScN1DQLNB7t0mMX7C-9Zc_oXXiPXoSPHrrMp1YAoFnJI3MZBbx95k9sx2CjoEwtiHGzKsVmdIuoU1yc4It9xLfYh/s2414/Sherm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1612" data-original-width="2414" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPzn_O7fNHUzurB6fjhzQg4Xe_e6Nd-UUe_jPmRexUX5ihREAzCvLlFAEbqngBv_XPjy9ZpEl7eREa1jOsCfhDMaNfpEgScN1DQLNB7t0mMX7C-9Zc_oXXiPXoSPHrrMp1YAoFnJI3MZBbx95k9sx2CjoEwtiHGzKsVmdIuoU1yc4It9xLfYh/w640-h428/Sherm2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now this is a bit different, but at least Shermy is being remembered! It doesn't prompt Charles Schulz to feature him more, but we still have half a dozen more appearances in the newspapers to come in 1968 and 1969...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>1 February 1968</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdFAnm0GZEQfMdxxuQwypxbi7T4oGn8HC-g74yCFDFbfqYAYZHjkuRTpsr7r2Mmxli5P5Ye7duiue8_u-qxxv_e2ONW3fZFtxmiOXFx8jl7_-dBlx4Wuy9TCgmmnCtYqcukbkpSGmaiUM8D7xk7jG7MsvbUA7-WWs3Z3PTSFvBmXz4i04g_uL0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="1111" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdFAnm0GZEQfMdxxuQwypxbi7T4oGn8HC-g74yCFDFbfqYAYZHjkuRTpsr7r2Mmxli5P5Ye7duiue8_u-qxxv_e2ONW3fZFtxmiOXFx8jl7_-dBlx4Wuy9TCgmmnCtYqcukbkpSGmaiUM8D7xk7jG7MsvbUA7-WWs3Z3PTSFvBmXz4i04g_uL0" width="640" /></a></div>Back in his role of one of the boys to be sent flying by Lucy!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>5 March 1968</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh18l_O1VSxqSXJwf0ykFQlOAYLFAP7AjbgeC5KJV5Lk7zTT71Cvkw5Rwe9uplc7nkE7z9XvRj6IAlv3250hEyEMLyrK37h2E08fCzWKzs_P0Ph78iHNVNVW1ofqfwgpz8e66ok4f8YenddbRJdsjWb_QBT8R8twT5gz__J5UFHMuhS-nj6-T6H" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="1117" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh18l_O1VSxqSXJwf0ykFQlOAYLFAP7AjbgeC5KJV5Lk7zTT71Cvkw5Rwe9uplc7nkE7z9XvRj6IAlv3250hEyEMLyrK37h2E08fCzWKzs_P0Ph78iHNVNVW1ofqfwgpz8e66ok4f8YenddbRJdsjWb_QBT8R8twT5gz__J5UFHMuhS-nj6-T6H=w640-h134" width="640" /></a></div>And back to standing in the background of baseball-themed comics!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>30 June 1968</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiElxQb_QN97KihlVAV2vpdvjWSAuNhiB3o6AWcmORajGs_YupPL2efnYKeLtgmuKfrJbio1I6sH0_yVp4b5RyNcREsalV7QTHHByDJs61u-7qdH9dFBmPA9TinqTkSyAbCyQNOmwSPYYg6SZGDUxQednyKaaZaFmCkDBTiPYWzgmLMngnXwRph" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1126" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiElxQb_QN97KihlVAV2vpdvjWSAuNhiB3o6AWcmORajGs_YupPL2efnYKeLtgmuKfrJbio1I6sH0_yVp4b5RyNcREsalV7QTHHByDJs61u-7qdH9dFBmPA9TinqTkSyAbCyQNOmwSPYYg6SZGDUxQednyKaaZaFmCkDBTiPYWzgmLMngnXwRph=w640-h438" width="640" /></a></div>He even gets a line in the latest pitcher's mound debate!<br /><br /><b>10 August 1968</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj145tBE1eO5AwMgMj3vpNtG4S4e27j0eLxCsS7-3T_n66wQ6yQj_ckYf3LQZXauh7hgPir8rmRiw0f-nrj_HpeArQf1U5CUWnrLRvtp7VyvV6xEHytCWujPQt4ifrJ-rDaorYnFnQmhC1hdpL_ILsFLxel4WDOFHRyDdMpASAZ6tem4-Od6-lx" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="1129" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj145tBE1eO5AwMgMj3vpNtG4S4e27j0eLxCsS7-3T_n66wQ6yQj_ckYf3LQZXauh7hgPir8rmRiw0f-nrj_HpeArQf1U5CUWnrLRvtp7VyvV6xEHytCWujPQt4ifrJ-rDaorYnFnQmhC1hdpL_ILsFLxel4WDOFHRyDdMpASAZ6tem4-Od6-lx=w640-h138" width="640" /></a></div>It's a long time since Shermy and Snoopy were seen hanging out together, but Shermy still comes to his birthday party!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>25 March 1969</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLvZMBAS4y18od4AxGw9Oa1Eu0ZUUN6_iva_7v0n0fRoXoongxzrtkEucd5YD0bBv5QkwD0jIXcvjE701ndPBBMqrO7nypbtrYXYGNn3heJctWGL7mXuOkMT-i-stedymyRaIZm5V-PZNyeTiKO69k1hDsXmYKrlD52z37mWu_LYovK7r8bRVU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="1130" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLvZMBAS4y18od4AxGw9Oa1Eu0ZUUN6_iva_7v0n0fRoXoongxzrtkEucd5YD0bBv5QkwD0jIXcvjE701ndPBBMqrO7nypbtrYXYGNn3heJctWGL7mXuOkMT-i-stedymyRaIZm5V-PZNyeTiKO69k1hDsXmYKrlD52z37mWu_LYovK7r8bRVU=w640-h138" width="640" /></a></div>You can learn a lot about baseball history from reading Peanuts. It was felt in the fifties that the game was too dominated by pitchers, and measures were taken which included lowering the height of the pitcher's mound. This caused a lot of laughter from Charlie Brown's team in previous strips, but Shermy seems less derisive about it here in his penultimate newspaper appearance.<br /><br /><b>15 June 1969</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBaU7cCZ5ZK5Q2h9zNedc-gT5IxFiD2vm6Dl_FCJCI0Q30Zj5-xO6bIKaM1mineRNlB8yL4MMtO-OrogZuhM41igQ4dc_2gE6qv2Ec_zKVsQrILLBCC6qAl2-2EfE4NgqIzxqntVJxuC-HFg0Tr-CA8UPUPk-1Mi9HAG6M0Ry6uMWt-BggHNSL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1113" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBaU7cCZ5ZK5Q2h9zNedc-gT5IxFiD2vm6Dl_FCJCI0Q30Zj5-xO6bIKaM1mineRNlB8yL4MMtO-OrogZuhM41igQ4dc_2gE6qv2Ec_zKVsQrILLBCC6qAl2-2EfE4NgqIzxqntVJxuC-HFg0Tr-CA8UPUPk-1Mi9HAG6M0Ry6uMWt-BggHNSL=w640-h440" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">And this is Shermy's final word in the comics. "Really?" in the disposable second panel of a Sunday strip. After this, it's oblivion, I'm afraid. Someone who's probably supposed to be Shermy shows up in a movie line in 1975, and he's mentioned by name (but not seen) in a baseball strip as late as 1977. But he's no longer even a background character after this typically small appearance.</div></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shermy is gone from the newspapers, and the cartoons are soon to follow suit. But there's one surprising last hurrah for our hero!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>27 September 1969</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqhNZoOpkvW5Q6QaUWpl5RsOYCFBq0L1ixx5dUWJdiCXJ6nt6FhJR78nxfZbkBYJaK700ojAEGaj7fh9Jsk-luccF3oaV_jyZagAkixi1RJsN3EYPTZ2HD32aDRwx5nHpymbOm6LcyUXcykawMQNZSEpbMx07y-4uMxRDy8Gu19_Me_ZEZHTNS" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="840" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgqhNZoOpkvW5Q6QaUWpl5RsOYCFBq0L1ixx5dUWJdiCXJ6nt6FhJR78nxfZbkBYJaK700ojAEGaj7fh9Jsk-luccF3oaV_jyZagAkixi1RJsN3EYPTZ2HD32aDRwx5nHpymbOm6LcyUXcykawMQNZSEpbMx07y-4uMxRDy8Gu19_Me_ZEZHTNS=w640-h358" width="640" /></a></div></b>"It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown" is the last animated Peanuts of the sixties. Shermy had been entirely absent from the previous TV special, "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown", but he makes up for it in a big way here! Maybe it's being trapped in summer camp, but he gets a very prominent role as one of the boys, all the way through.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXR9vw1gc6BdpdeDz-aAtIIitULF3Jgx-Kcfa2BhOwmT8yY6bQdKKHzJzUxMJEY8eUFrLwRHeNt1byBeWAs5XDbs279vsZX9qtgwkiwm_nRQW1OHK0uKxcot8Kgt2973xn2vFWTsTwZ8Ooeb5Ibqe2iUQ6AN-7uxc3TpzQ47Ztytf2ptUZSlw4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="855" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXR9vw1gc6BdpdeDz-aAtIIitULF3Jgx-Kcfa2BhOwmT8yY6bQdKKHzJzUxMJEY8eUFrLwRHeNt1byBeWAs5XDbs279vsZX9qtgwkiwm_nRQW1OHK0uKxcot8Kgt2973xn2vFWTsTwZ8Ooeb5Ibqe2iUQ6AN-7uxc3TpzQ47Ztytf2ptUZSlw4=w640-h362" width="640" /></a></div>Probably his best moment is scaring Linus twice in swift succession. "Hey! There's a spider on that log! ... I'm sorry, I was wrong. It was just a piece of bark."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shermy is treated as a central character throughout the cartoon - maybe not quite as prominent as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and Linus, but getting there. He never attains that level again, though he continues to be drawn into the background of the cartoons of the seventies. This would be a good point to end this essay, but for the sake of completeness...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>4 December 1969</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj41_xW4Cy-O2Zr9vaRy9Oyv8vYC-UEle_R5CsG9ylNi5uzP0OKfrjuJHnSjeB0bBnd4NRWNke2qSYdywe0XwuLmhI9LL7oS4pN1GWsy4FCBOkVgK_7LJvGjgOXo7Su-BhnEhREqtW3I5gBn4SYYL9MiJbFYyHrOZGhQeUolR43prPSMtRakQqL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="839" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj41_xW4Cy-O2Zr9vaRy9Oyv8vYC-UEle_R5CsG9ylNi5uzP0OKfrjuJHnSjeB0bBnd4NRWNke2qSYdywe0XwuLmhI9LL7oS4pN1GWsy4FCBOkVgK_7LJvGjgOXo7Su-BhnEhREqtW3I5gBn4SYYL9MiJbFYyHrOZGhQeUolR43prPSMtRakQqL=w640-h302" width="640" /></a></div>To finish the decade, Shermy does show up briefly in the theatrical movie "A Boy Named Charlie Brown". But he doesn't speak, and doesn't even get together with the gang to watch the spelling bee at the end, which is a shame.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's to the eternally unimportant Shermy! The world needs someone to play the shepherd!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-64566646034155218952023-12-15T19:48:00.000+00:002023-12-15T19:48:01.133+00:00It's no wonder Lionel Jeffries went mad<div style="text-align: left;"> Bill Mantlo's Alpha Flight comics are notable for having the characters recap the events of the past twenty issues at length, every time they open their mouths. This page is probably the single most impressive example of that tendency!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s8uJRamoXfnbLhfkjz5o2bwou-AJU4J6yxAFPvafLT5__EZLVAL6ghO6AUdZlZzfzxpFGERnOzDUFuVH_j6I3XuKR-V2E9bzmzUnhO2C9vxmcSO1fEhA8BwNxXa_XJZghgmQvmiuJ7qQyrskbe3-zosMtfbuIo-nQkySPj8xsxlObiqFe_Vp/s2682/Another%20great%20recap%20page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2682" data-original-width="1834" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0s8uJRamoXfnbLhfkjz5o2bwou-AJU4J6yxAFPvafLT5__EZLVAL6ghO6AUdZlZzfzxpFGERnOzDUFuVH_j6I3XuKR-V2E9bzmzUnhO2C9vxmcSO1fEhA8BwNxXa_XJZghgmQvmiuJ7qQyrskbe3-zosMtfbuIo-nQkySPj8xsxlObiqFe_Vp/w438-h640/Another%20great%20recap%20page.jpg" width="438" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I mean, at least they're explaining relevant information to the unfortunate Dr Jeffries - a lot of the time, they just tell each other things they already know, for no reason. But since Lionel starts the page by saying "Let me see if I understand this..." I can only assume Alpha Flight have just this minute finished telling him this whole story, and his apparent uncertainty led them all to rehash the entire conversation again!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Meanwhile, Lionel's brother Madison has got a bit confused. It looks like the "To Bochssie's chagrin..." speech bubble should be a thought bubble, and the "Then Langkowski, on turnin' human again..." should have been spoken out loud. I bet he's embarrassed that he accidentally said what he should have just thought to himself. It's no wonder Roger Bochs went mad, too!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-27539957900730738432023-12-10T16:24:00.002+00:002023-12-10T16:24:33.458+00:00Another favourite page<div style="text-align: left;">'Bits of books that I really like', part 2. This is one of the many cool things you can see if you buy the Order of the Stick books, above and beyond the bits you can read for free on the internet. I love how this ridiculously convoluted chart really does give you all the information you could possibly need about the OOTS characters at that particular point of their history (the start of volume 4), as well as a big helping of silly and clever jokes!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwUaCXjX7YHfl7P4xTqWTsYpm0cr4XcVnNokMQLcFG-sjY1gjQ9JjcJtMTRcscNDL35Tm9RoADeQS3GM01l3fRf7Uc2-Qz7rpYSDTmQYy2fIGOEBD86_BvPxk0QO8f1WUrEG9OvNZEMV0ARDgODXNRegXhQH_ae5NqhFc-kqJEJ52cJoY57-Ey/s3069/Flow%20chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2470" data-original-width="3069" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwUaCXjX7YHfl7P4xTqWTsYpm0cr4XcVnNokMQLcFG-sjY1gjQ9JjcJtMTRcscNDL35Tm9RoADeQS3GM01l3fRf7Uc2-Qz7rpYSDTmQYy2fIGOEBD86_BvPxk0QO8f1WUrEG9OvNZEMV0ARDgODXNRegXhQH_ae5NqhFc-kqJEJ52cJoY57-Ey/w640-h516/Flow%20chart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Xykon and Redcloak want to control the god-killing abomination The Snarl, while Roy wants to control his wild teammate Belkar, and Roy's father wants to control Roy. This is why I love this comic so much.</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-12486362164861876972023-12-09T20:21:00.001+00:002023-12-09T20:21:24.049+00:00A fun one<div style="text-align: left;"> This time I <i>will</i> write about Dr Who, which proves I thought this one was all right. Just a few observations before I go and read what everyone else has said about it and argue with them...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm surprised they've never done John Logie Baird before, actually - it's so obvious, if you're going to do a stereotypical Russell T Davies hidden-mind-control-messages thing, that you'd think it would have been the first story in 2005. Maybe he was waiting for the hundredth anniversary but got fed up.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nice to see Mel, and I was really expecting a reference to The Nightmare Fair, but I guess it really <i>didn't</i> happen after all.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The climactic ball game was underwhelming - couldn't they have spent some money on making it look acrobatic and exciting?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was a nice episode, but I really want to see something that makes me go "Ooh, that's clever," and I'm not really doing that about this one.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But despite all the negativity, it was good! More of the same at Christmas, please!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-23572492771077323902023-12-09T09:14:00.002+00:002023-12-09T09:14:40.293+00:003001, a sedentary odyssey<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm happy to say my knee is recovering nicely, but this first post of a new millennium of bloggery is still more of a 'sitting around on my backside' thing than venturing into space or the Aegean Sea. And I'm catching up this morning with everybody who's sent me condolences or friendly messages or insults in the last week or two, so I'd like to especially thank Tom for leaving a comment here on my blog, and urge more readers to do the same! People don't comment here nearly enough! Let's build some kind of Zoomy-fan community, so I can think I'm appropriately great and famous!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Or you can continue talking to me in less ego-centric venues, I don't mind. Anyway, I didn't really feel like writing about Dr Who last Saturday night - it wasn't terrible, it was at least watchable, but that's as far as my praise goes. We'll just have to see what the third and final 'special' tonight is like, and then hope that one day they'll make it back into a proper weekly series like Dr Who should be, every year, for say six months at a time. I don't mind if it looks cheap, just hire some capable writers!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And when I say good writing, here's a literary example. Not an example of how to write Dr Who, a completely unrelated thing in classic Zoomy blog style to confuse the readers. I've mentioned before, several times, how much I love 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay', and it seems a good place to start a series of posting examples of great pages from favourite books. It's a cold day in late 1939 New York, and teenage Sam Clay and Joe Kavalier have just been given the okay to create their own comic book. They go out to find a team of artists, meet Sam's friend Julius "Julie" Glovsky and go with him to the apartment/studio where Julie's older brother Jerry lives with two other artists. When nobody answers the door, Joe (with a completely unnecessary display of acrobatics) scales the fire escape, climbs in an upstairs window and immediately provokes a scream from the naked woman asleep on Jerry's bed. It's his first meeting with Rosa Saks, who will play a central role in the lives of both Joe and Sammy. And, as we learn in this one beautifully-written scene, the whole incident had a lasting effect on Julie too...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji-fqB0y5Yd09b6gb9i9OLGbzIBHOQzZJ0AtoCSVUTp9rh_K0eOELcyyhri1SPxcn1AD0F0Mw4VWD0iYyv2qn-Tl6VstDLc85g87mbHODWAo14Hy6OI9RTyIJqiRcFVD44VcQAsNcOUhLBRgK3dIvkWedCaHvo35bctmen4ji-3U6c55APDdB6/s3507/IMG_20231209_0001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2480" data-original-width="3507" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji-fqB0y5Yd09b6gb9i9OLGbzIBHOQzZJ0AtoCSVUTp9rh_K0eOELcyyhri1SPxcn1AD0F0Mw4VWD0iYyv2qn-Tl6VstDLc85g87mbHODWAo14Hy6OI9RTyIJqiRcFVD44VcQAsNcOUhLBRgK3dIvkWedCaHvo35bctmen4ji-3U6c55APDdB6/w640-h452/IMG_20231209_0001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Michael Chabon should be writing Doctor Who. And I've always thought someone needs to get David Renwick writing it as well. And there are other candidates too - you know, proper good writers is what the series has really been lacking, it's not about the expensive special effects. Sort it out, BBC!<p></p>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-41985612178326364842023-12-02T11:36:00.003+00:002023-12-02T11:36:58.860+00:00Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man<div style="text-align: left;"> This is my 3000th post on this blog! The big round number crept up on me a little unexpectedly, and I wanted to do something special and lengthy for it, but then I'll probably want to write something about Doctor Who tonight, and it'll probably not be very good, so I thought I should write a three thousandth post before it's on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But it seems a good opportunity to announce something I've felt reluctant to tell people, possibly worried that they won't think I'm cool - I've been officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, although it's not really causing me any serious symptoms and isn't likely to in the future. But if I mention it here, and people still don't know about it if it comes up in conversation, that'll be because they haven't read my blog. And if they haven't read my blog, that means <i>they</i> aren't cool!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Largely unrelated to that, I fell down last week and emulated Augustus Carp's father, who in the process of denouncing the new lectern at his church injured his knee and suffered "extremely severe contusions of both his larger gluteal muscles". This made me want to read the book again, and recommend it to anyone who hasn't heard of it - "Augustus Carp, Esq, by Himself"</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Published anonymously in 1924, it was written by Dr Henry Howarth Bashford, and it's hilarious. Funnily enough, it's only on this latest reading I noticed that Augustus is 47 years old at the time he's writing his autobiography, meaning he's exactly a hundred years older than me. I think I should be emulating him more - by the time he got to that age, he'd long since "commenced his life's afternoon", and despite having lost his job despite all the pious blackmail and swindling he'd used to get it, has married into enough wealth to live comfortably as "sidesman, churchwarden, Sunday School superintendent and secretary of the Glee Club, no less than as President of the St Potamus Purity League". It's an example we should all follow!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVyrtRhUBlb-JBiQiciNUGK2VSOzydw6s5NTGBz9dskIBgA1aZMr8178VL1cEW6roXDaXGwN28DuNjIYQFj69YkfPua74uzytVFRDx9yZcBJo7QosbokZeusLk2BI2FSb8JBsJazynt2y26Bj2gpxybi69A3nMXXMKXoOt0Opq3I13NJSR9fl/s1879/Myself.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1879" data-original-width="1151" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVyrtRhUBlb-JBiQiciNUGK2VSOzydw6s5NTGBz9dskIBgA1aZMr8178VL1cEW6roXDaXGwN28DuNjIYQFj69YkfPua74uzytVFRDx9yZcBJo7QosbokZeusLk2BI2FSb8JBsJazynt2y26Bj2gpxybi69A3nMXXMKXoOt0Opq3I13NJSR9fl/w392-h640/Myself.jpg" width="392" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-68028373403438857342023-11-27T20:23:00.002+00:002023-11-27T20:23:23.149+00:00The amazing world<div style="text-align: left;"> I'm sorry to hear that Mike has died. Mike as in <a href="http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/main/index.php">Mike's Amazing World of Comics</a>, that is. The long-established, universally loved and admired, comic cataloguing website. It's been my first go-to site for any obscure superhero comic trivia I might be interested in for longer than I can remember.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I then spent a heck of a long time searching the internet to try to find Mike's surname, because I knew I knew it at one point but couldn't remember it now - I'd almost decided he kept it a secret from everyone and I'd never known it at all, finding him universally referred to just as "Mike" by everyone mourning his loss. I did find it in the end, but it seems to be the done thing not to mention it, so I'll just leave it as RIP Mike. A true hero of the comic nerd universe.</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-64383014487964139152023-11-25T19:32:00.001+00:002023-11-25T19:32:37.825+00:00It was pretty good, really<div style="text-align: left;">Yes, and that's high praise, compared to the last ten years of Doctor Who. I won't spoil it, but I'd advise everyone reading this to watch the new episode. Although I have to ask - what's with David Tennant's hair? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But in all fairness, I was worried that even "bring back Russell T Davies and David Tennant and Catherine Tate and write a story based on a classic comic" wouldn't be a solution to the decade of badly misguided attempts to make Doctor Who, so I was prepared to be disappointed. But actually, it was pretty cool. Let's see if they can use this as a template for the future!</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-90961236780884645562023-11-21T17:16:00.000+00:002023-11-21T17:16:51.158+00:00Best ending ever<div style="text-align: left;"> For want of anything more productive to do with my time, I've been re-watching my way through the entire run of Regular Show for the last few months. And really, there could never be a more perfect ending to a series than the final montage. I defy anyone to watch this without a tear in their eye...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gXr1O8e9-mM?si=yQS0v_Pv6ipVgw6j" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, possibly you do need to know something about the characters and settings to get the full effect, but even so, I'm sure everyone finds it impossibly beautiful, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>I feel it's also worth pointing out that Hi-Five Ghost is my absolute favourite character (closely followed by Eileen and Rigby), which might say something about how I see my role in life as being that of a sidekick. Now, I'm aware that there are people in the world - quite a lot of them, indeed - who don't think of me in that way at all, and would think it downright weird if I say I've always been a smaller best friend to some or other larger and more dominant personality, floating alongside them and high-fiving where appropriate, but I still do feel that that's the position I always automatically slide into at every opportunity, and certainly the kind of character in a well-written show like Regular Show who I'll always most empathise with. It's really got me thinking about how realistic my self-perception actually is...</div><div><br /></div><div>See, what other comedy cartoon show can give you a tear-jerking finale and a healthy dose of psychoanalytical prompting? It's genius, I tell you.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ36Dsi37DDiSIKA8HZimF4RhxHo4VHbHe-nFH8R-_eirqRnhQy345hCfb9zOt8b-S5bUn64XLwYpcHzNFeudefGjDpY1H1ghU48S3srDKGUVqGnyb1uzFY8JyDfd7X7jw4mJMQq4mNRO6SjWuKM912pshXOjpe6jN1AWDz0SIYuve9IPlKHHU/s332/Fives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="321" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ36Dsi37DDiSIKA8HZimF4RhxHo4VHbHe-nFH8R-_eirqRnhQy345hCfb9zOt8b-S5bUn64XLwYpcHzNFeudefGjDpY1H1ghU48S3srDKGUVqGnyb1uzFY8JyDfd7X7jw4mJMQq4mNRO6SjWuKM912pshXOjpe6jN1AWDz0SIYuve9IPlKHHU/w386-h400/Fives.jpg" width="386" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-16752694126815511552023-11-17T14:42:00.000+00:002023-11-17T14:42:57.551+00:00The sensational debut of a supervillain<div style="text-align: left;"> It's 1993, Wolverine is a very cool character in the coolest Marvel comics, his arch-enemy Sabretooth is also extremely cool, and the market is absolutely flooded with new characters who are trying to be just as cool as them. It helps if your name sounds a bit like "wolf", definitely. So how could this new character fail, with a cover like this?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju67JREVZCGm-VPXaJIg_dnY4WPzLf1DwozrHpllAGM62jtb63aIPq-8NEZEVzbmZPDbKt0zGslWQXAOGpy0z4tcuWpHumieiq6S7fTLcpcaxp0BL0G6Vb8Gf_6RLbngaiTHV1hyphenhyphen3pmdq609GUCimPF2270BhnfRUFysDxjvUv8AOuN5HQQsEI/s3055/Aardwolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3055" data-original-width="2010" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju67JREVZCGm-VPXaJIg_dnY4WPzLf1DwozrHpllAGM62jtb63aIPq-8NEZEVzbmZPDbKt0zGslWQXAOGpy0z4tcuWpHumieiq6S7fTLcpcaxp0BL0G6Vb8Gf_6RLbngaiTHV1hyphenhyphen3pmdq609GUCimPF2270BhnfRUFysDxjvUv8AOuN5HQQsEI/w422-h640/Aardwolf.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Aardwolf. A name that just screams "picked up the book of animals of the world, turned to entry number 2 and stopped looking." He was probably doomed to failure from the start. But Aardwolf's background is Madripoor (the Asian island nation chock-full of evil businessmen who are also crimelords, where Wolverine spends a lot of time), so the cover decides to stress not only how much like Sabretooth he is, but also that he's like a famous businessman. Donald Trump. Yes, that's not going to look at all silly, thirty years down the line.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The cover of Night Thrasher #3 is drawn by Javier Saltares, who was supposed to be the regular artist of the series, but inside it's a fill-in story pencilled by Ken Lashley and Fred Haynes, and inked by six different people, taking a few pages each to get it done by the deadline. The letters page tells us that David Boller and Don Hudson will be drawing the next issue, and Saltares will return to his regular role with #5. Hudson isn't actually credited on #4, but Saltares does come back for #5, only to disappear once more, and for good. Boller became the regular penciller after that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The writer, though, was Fabian Nicieza, and you'd think he must have had something to do with creating Aardwolf. But he cheerfully acknowledges that it's a funny kind of thing for an Asian crimelord to call himself, having him explain that it's a childhood nickname, and "a hyena-like mammal which feeds mostly on termites and insect larvae, would you believe?" He tries to justify it by saying he kills termites like Night Thrasher (who of course also has a silly name that's had a lot of jokes made about it over the years, but Nicieza isn't to blame for that one - Tom DeFalco thought it up), but it sounds more than a little forced.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And speaking of silly names, Aardwolf's real name is Chon Li. I mean, seriously? Street Fighter II was a very big deal by the time Aardwolf made his debut! Chun Li, busty female street fighter, was a name on the lips of everyone in the target audience of comics like Night Thrasher. How could Nicieza, or whoever, not have heard about her?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To cap it all, Aardwolf is completely the wrong colours on that cover. Inside the comic, he's got grey skin and dark red hair. He's also rather lost among a lot of other rather better characters, and he is never seen again after Night Thrasher #4 (though he ends the story still a businessman/crimelord in Madripoor). Donald Trump had more staying power.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">PS The letters page in Night Thrasher is titled "Talk - or I'll gladly break your jaw" after a famous line of his. Other people suggested "Nocturnal Submissions", but Marvel decided against it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">PPS Would you believe there's another Aardwolf in the Marvel Universe? He's part of the "Hyena Clan" who showed up in a Fantastic Four story involving the Black Panther, in 2012. He also hasn't become a supervillain sensation, but at least he lives within a thousand miles or so of actual aardwolves. </div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777643.post-33601326484854260992023-11-11T13:16:00.000+00:002023-11-11T13:16:05.347+00:00If you're in Sheffield train station...<div style="text-align: left;">... take a look at the new shiny stainless steel (what else?) commemorative plaque under an arch of poppies! The plaque was unveiled yesterday by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant, accompanied by a whole lot of speeches, exhortations, prayers and Last Posts. It was actually a remarkably big spectacle for such an obscure family as the Pridmores; I never thought I'd see the like.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsdg35e7El2v-VkDitCfQujvCmJtIB29FlUhPcnQ-hCYh4rVS3FV_Cb6BZbnwlJticVHUIgfpm0txa5F-f9-twRdDVgk63Z30oekHOPFEIZxytTc8tFvPPWCc8FaspPvQmjoGIxS1hlb7DH0s-F9ZdnqgijOXEvlttARTHlEhOQzLUn7BXC8sz/s1600/Plaque.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsdg35e7El2v-VkDitCfQujvCmJtIB29FlUhPcnQ-hCYh4rVS3FV_Cb6BZbnwlJticVHUIgfpm0txa5F-f9-twRdDVgk63Z30oekHOPFEIZxytTc8tFvPPWCc8FaspPvQmjoGIxS1hlb7DH0s-F9ZdnqgijOXEvlttARTHlEhOQzLUn7BXC8sz/w480-h640/Plaque.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk576ap9G-SUdqwIbZRCItTwDzH5EE_qzr3rx0uWQ8iBMnSUzw8B9fRVWVRCQshq97yS3oMbl_WCJNAD7Qnoy3POcWPUakyXaZl33ad2o2eHANXx5m69ssGmVBrutVE_yX9-nwElyzoYusFrSFVtz5JUXcaVWP8zAQrWcj8FCMrr2bcpQsWJny/s1600/Wreath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk576ap9G-SUdqwIbZRCItTwDzH5EE_qzr3rx0uWQ8iBMnSUzw8B9fRVWVRCQshq97yS3oMbl_WCJNAD7Qnoy3POcWPUakyXaZl33ad2o2eHANXx5m69ssGmVBrutVE_yX9-nwElyzoYusFrSFVtz5JUXcaVWP8zAQrWcj8FCMrr2bcpQsWJny/w480-h640/Wreath.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">But then, if there's one thing our family specialises in, it's quantity rather than quality (though of course we've got abundant supplies of that, too). And yesterday's event was a great opportunity for a rare gathering of our branch of the family tree - the four soldiers' little brother Sydney's eighteen grandchildren and their various descendants couldn't all make it yesterday, but an impressively big chunk of us did! It was quite a day, all in all.</div>Zoomyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753618617159805371noreply@blogger.com0