Mickey Through the Years

 I saw this poster of Mickey Mouse through the years, and thought it needed just a little tweak.

David Letterman - The Morning Show Episode

I've been watching my old Beta episodes of Late Night with David Letterman that I recorded back in the early 80's and into the early 90's. So far, I've seen the "International Night" episode, "The Reverse Episode", the "Build Your own Episode", the "Monkey-Cam" Episode and last night I watched "The Morning Show" episode. And how about throwing stuff off of a 5 story building or crushing stuff with a steam roller, the suit of magnets, the suit of Alka-Seltzer, the Top 10 List, Larry "Bud" Melman, and the Guy under the Seats... they don't make television like that anymore!

Here are a few screen grabs from The Morning Show episode with Dave and Tawny.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Special Edition 2007

Back in my post on June 6, 2009, I showed two photos of Oswald items created by Kevin Kidney, and said how much I wanted both! Last month, I was finally able to add this amazing 2007 Disney Store exclusive Oswald the Lucky Rabbit hand finished soft microfiber figure to my collection. The box is 17 inches tall and Oswald's ears stick out of the top of the box, so this is a fairly large figure. Part of me wants to pull him out of the box and display him, but the box is really cool, and I love that his ears stick out the top, so he will probably stay in the box. I love the look of the Oswald, but its a bit distracting that there is a line just above his nose and below his eyes where the top and bottom part of his face is joined. It would have been so much better if they could have done it without this right thought the centre of his face. But, other than that, he looks awesome! 

There was a mini big fig (is that a thing?) for sale at Disneyland back on my last trip in 2015 that I didn't buy because I didn't have room to bring it home in my luggage. Been kicking myself ever since. But that one was more similar to the image that Disney is using for Oswald now, and I much prefer the vintage looking one that Kevin created. so, I'll keep my fingers crossed for an Oswald big fig based on the sculpt Kevin did back in early 2000. 

Awesome Glowing HareWolves Logo

I'm a fan of The Clink Room and all the cool logos their users create. I recently saw this Harewolves logo by Jason Villanti. I love the logo and it's the best uses of glow in the dark in a logo I've ever seen. Very Creative! I thought it would be fun to make an animated gif out the logo, showing its cool glow in dark alter ego!

Little Golden Book Monday #182

Here is a Faux Little Golden Book cover that I saw years ago and came across again today while cleaning out my old iMac. I was surprised to see that I never shared this in the past, as I love the artwork and title so much that I really want to add this book to me collection! Here is Incredibly, Undeniably BORED by Stacy Curtis. You can find it over on the Three Men in a Tub blog.

Mandrake, the Magician... Artwork project

The other day while I was at the local thrift shop, I found this really cool looking frame that was priced just right! I wasn't sure what I was going to put in it, but I knew I could find something really cool to replace the purple plant art that was in it currently. Once I was home, I had a look at all the things I had printed recently, looking for just the right image to put into this frame. The frame looked to me to be 'old' and had a certain retro style that made me think of something that would be hanging in a study, Hall, Billiard Room or Conservatory [yeah, I just played Clue a few days ago] of some cool old home. I decided on the Mandrake, The Magician theatrical poster from the 1939 Columbia Pictures theatrical serial because I love old magic posters, am a fan of Mandrake, and it looked like something that should be in this cool old frame.

There is a shadow box in the centre of the frame, and its height was not as tall as the 11 x 17 poster I had originally printed, so I had to go into photoshop and remove some of the top and bottom of the poster to make it fit.

It took way longer than I had thought to open the frame, as it was never meant to be taken apart. It was nailed and glued together very tightly. After pulling it apart, I was able to remove the flower picture and add a sheet of black construction paper to the back of the shadow box and then affix the newly printed Mandrake poster, before putting the whole thing back together.

I think the final result is pretty awesome, don't you! I can't wait to find a spot to hang this gem on my study wall - that's the fancy name I'm giving my living room.

Happy 14th Birthday Big Pile of Stuff!

Happy 14th Birthday to my blog, Ronn's Big Pile of Stuff! When I started it, it was mostly a joke to see if I could put something on the internet every day for a year. Then, once I started it, I kinda liked it! Hopefully there is someone out there also enjoying it, but if its just me, that's fine because I'm having fun!

Pluto and the 37th Recon Co.

I saw this logo online featuring Pluto for the 37th Recon Co. created by the Walt Disney Company during World War II. I really liked the logo but wished there was a better version online. After looking around, I didn't find any that looked much better, so I decided to make one myself which now pops up every now and again in my iMac's screen saver. Along with the logo I made, I decided to make a second one that looks older and distressed as if it was actually used. The bottom logo is the original and the other two are the ones I created in Photoshop.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in "Ye Olden Days"

Here is another faux Oswald the Lucky Rabbit poster I made for myself. I always liked the poster for Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse in "Ye Olden Days", so I decided it would be fun to re imagine the image as an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit animated film. Here is my faux Oswald poster, along with the original poster. I hope you enjoy!

Hey look... I'm in a Captain Canuck comic!

Captain Canuck #6 from 1979 was one of my first comic books and the one that really got me into collecting comics! The original series ran just 14 issues, from 1975 until its end in 1981. Many years later a limited edition #15 was released. Then 23 years later, a new Captain Canuck mini series titled Unholy War was released. When I saw it solicited in Previews I was so excited! I quickly wrote and mailed off a letter to Richard Comely telling him how excited I was that after so many years of waiting, there was finally going to be some new Captain Canuck comic books. To my surprise, when issue #1 was released in October 2004, right there in the back of the book, was my letter!

So far, I have had letters printed in two of my three favourite comic books, Captain Canuck, and Groo the Wanderer. Now I just have to wait for them to start printing letters in Batman again, and I can try to make it three for three!

I did make one mistake in my letter, when I wrote that I was member #6 in the Captain Canuck Club. I am actually #13. Sorry I lied in my letter. At the time I wrote my letter, I could not find my membership card, and for some reason I remembered being member #6. I'm so glad I can correct my error 16 years later. Feels good to get that off my chest.

Sergio Aragones custom artwork

Back in 1994 I had the pleasure of meeting Sergio Aragones for the first time at the Vancouver Comic Con. It was my first comic con and I had heard that when you meet artists etc, you were usually allowed to get one item signed and a photo and then sent on your way. I brought one issue of Groo the Wanderer to get signed and expected that would be it. When I went to his booth, he was sitting there working on artwork for an upcoming issue of Groo. He was really nice and signed my comic and showed me what he was working on. He said that he had spilled coffee on some pages he was drawing on the plane, so was doing them again (I guess thats ok when you are the worlds fastest cartoonist). I also asked him if he would do a drawing of Groo as a fireman for my KISS magazine, Firehouse Magazine. He said sure, but that he would do Alfred E Neuman. I'm not sure why he didn't want to do Groo (I would have been so much more excited for drawing of my favourite comic book character Groo), but I walked away with a really cool addition to my collection.

Mighty Mouse The New Adventures

In 1987, the animated television series, Mighty Mouse, The New Adventures debuted on Fox Kids. It was a revival of the mighty Mouse cartoon character from the 1940's. This version aired on CBS on Saturday mornings rom fall 1987 through the 1988-89 season. I loved this show back then, and would get up early every Saturday morning to record the show on VHS (which I still have). As was the norm with new cartoon series at the time, Wendy's offered kids toys for their kids meals based on the characters from Mighty Mouse, The New Adventures. I just found the cards that came with three of my favourites, Bat-Bat, Petey Pate and The Cow. I also managed to get the window cling from my local Wendy's that advertised the kids meal toys. Its still stuck on the piece of glass I stuck it to back in 1989.
Here are the fronts and backs of three of the cards that came with the toys.

KING-TVs famed mascot designed by Walt Disney studios

I recently saw a picture of Walt Disney with a drawing of KING TVs mascot King Mike, and it reminded me that in 1998 when KING TV celebrated their 50th anniversary, I wrote to the station asking for anything with King Mike on it. I don't remember if I actually new at the time that it was designed by Disney, I think I just thought it was a rally cool retro looking character. They were nice enough to send me a 50th Anniversary mouse pad with King Mike on it. More recently I found that he was actually created by Disney.
King Mike, the first KING-TV employee and mascot, was created by Walt Disney's studios in 1951. When Dorothy Bullitt created Channel 5 in 1948, she changed the call letters to KING. And soon after, she reached out to her good friend Walt Disney who lent his artistic flair to help her get the station off the ground by created King Mike.
The Disney company confirms, although Walt Disney himself was involved in the design, that it was one of his artists who actually made the rendering. The cost of the design and work: $75.
It's believed that King Mike is the only word that Walt Disney commissioned outside of the Disney studios.
To this day, KING Mike has been used in promotions and logos.

That's Quarantainment!

More fun for those of us participating in Pandemic 2020. Next Weeks Episode of Talent Time is gonna be done online via youtube. Check out the banner and info they posted on their facebook page.

Just a beautiful Facebook banner for our next show. So much has happened since the last one (that weirdly enough I was wearing rubber gloves on??) I really wish we could all mingle IRL. I guess this is real life now. For the time being anyway. So this is the next best thing. Also people is other cities can join us now too which is super cool!! Please mark your calendar (April 2nd 7:00 pst) and tune ti on our YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/TalentTimeTV

Mickey Mouse and th Perilous Jungle Cruise

Recently while visiting one of my favourite Disney sites, I saw some great faux Disney movie posters that are displayed at the character meet and greet at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. They were all really cool, but I especially liked the one for "Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in The Jungle Cruise". A day or two later I saw the cover of a 1947 comic book, "Mickey Mouse and the Submarine Pirates", and immediately imagined it as a Jungle Cruise themed picture. So, a little bit of Photoshop magic and, voila, it's Mickey Mouse and the Perilous Jungle Cruise.

The Silent Comedy Watch Party

During Pandemic 2020, people are coming up with all kinds of great ways to help all of us stuck at home. Last week I got to watch the 'pilot' of The Silent Comedy Watch Party with Ben Model playing along to two old silent comedies. And just the other day I received the following message from Ben. So, I know what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon.

Last Sunday's "pilot" of The Silent Comedy Watch Party was a success! Over 360 people watched the show, and I got so many touching and enthusiastic comments from people about it. Most of all, for me, were the comments that the show and the hilarious films were a bright spot in their day, a much needed one after everything that had gone down last week.

So (drumroll please)...

Steve Massa and I will be doing another show this Sunday, March 22nd at 3pm (Eastern time). This will be the official "premiere" and episode #1 of The Silent Comedy Watch Party!

Here is the link:

https://silentfilmmusic.us11.list-manage.com/track/click…

Riverview Park Ride Tickets

You never know what fun things you'll find as you search your local thrift ships. Today, I found this very cool framed photo of Riverview Park with 18 ride tickets. I didn't know anything about Riverview Park. A quick google search and I found this: Riverview Park was an amusement park in  Chicago, Illinois which operated from 1904 to 1967. It was located on 74 acres on Chicago's north side. Among its ride collection, it had 6 roller coasters.

The ride tickets included with this framed picture are: 

Tilt-A-Whirl

Wild Mouse [Wild Mouse coaster]

Chutes [Shoot the Chutes old fashioned water ride]

Comet [Roller Coaster]

Bobs [Wooden Roller Coaster]

Boomerang

Water Bug

Pair-O-Chutes

Aladdin's Castle [Fun house]

Rollo Plane

Jet Stream [Wooden Roller Coaster - Philadelphia Toboggan Company]

Flying Turns [Wooden bobsled ride]

Space Ride

Tunnel of Love

Flash [Silver Flash Roller Coaster]

Miniature R.R. [ Coal-fired miniature steam engine]

Fireball [Roller Coaster]

Bump 'Em [Bumper cars]

Little Golden Book Monday #181

While at the thrift store the other day I found two copies of the Little Golden Book, Donald Duck's Toy Sailboat. Once I had both in hand, I realized the covers were actually slightly different. I prefer the Donald on the newer edition, but think the chipmunks on the older one are much better. What do you think?

Here are scans of the covers as well as the inside page from both versions.
The first one is the Fourteenth Printing from 1975. The second one is from 1990.

Gilligan's Island Comic Books

Back in the early 90's Harvey Comics got back into funny books in a big way! They got the licenses for Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Caster the Ghost, Baby Huey, Richie Rich and others. I was excited to have all these new funny books to buy each month, but it got me thinking about my favourite TV show of all time, Gilligan's Island, and more specifically the cartoon series that followed the three years of the live action show, The New Adventures of Gilligan. It would make an great comic book, and it seemed like it would fit in nicely with the stuff that Harvey was publishing at the time, so I decided to write them with my great idea! I was excited and not to surprised to received a reply that said my idea was great, but that the idea didn't fit into their 'present publishing plans'. Knowing what I do not about the show and mess with its rights, I realized it was not to be. But, it would have been my favourite title every moth if it had come out as a comic book!

Shown here is the letter I received from Sid Jacobson, along with the cool envelope with embossed Casper just below the word Entertainment. The letter from July 2, 1993, reads: Thanks so much for your suggestions about Gilligan's Island. I'm sorry but the idea doesn't fit into our present publishing plans. I with it would... It would be fun. But I'm afraid it would be to difficult for us to reach the appropriate market. Sincerely Sid Jacobson.
Also shown is the New Adventures of Gilligan comic book cover I threw together in Photoshop. Anybody else here want to buy a copy of this first issue!

The State of Television in 2019

Its now mid November and I have had time to watch all the new shows I wanted to check out and decide which ones I liked and which ones were duds.
Where is what I posted before the season began along with what my rating is now after two months.

• Batwoman (I gave it a 4 - out of 5 for how interested I was in it) (final rating = 0)
I watching it once and knew within 10 minutes of watching it that I would not watch another episode

• Bless the Harts (I gave it a 2) (Final rating still a 2)
This one was ok, but there was no reason to tune into another episode, and I don't watch any of the other Sunday night Fox animation (not even Simpsons, which is pretty good) so I can't even leave the TV on by accident and see this one.

• Bob Hearts Abishola (I gave it 1) (Final rating, 1.5)
This one is OK, but it really is a bottom tear sitcom. I can't see it making it to a second season, and I won't be watching it during the first season.

• Carol's Second Act (I gave it a 4) (Final rating is a 3)
This one is better than Bob Hearts Abishola, but just a little. Again, there were so many better sitcoms cancelled last season that this.

• Sunnyside (I gave it a 2) (Final rating has to be a 0 as I don't remember it)
I had totally forgotten about this one until I reread my post. Now I kinda remember watching the first episode and deciding I was not going to continue with it. And it looks like that may have been what everybody else did, because I don't remember seeing it on over the last few weeks.

• Nancy Drew (I gave it a 3) (Final rating is a 5)
This show I really like, and it has now become a favourite of my son, so we watch it together. The only thing I don't like it what it has too much of a supernatural vibe to it. I would prefer the show if it was just regular mysteries. That said, I still think its a really fun show.

• Emergence (Didn't rate this one) (Final rating 4)
Here is a show that I didn't even pay attention to when I saw the full page description in TV Weeks Preview issue. I thought it was just another cop show which I don't watch. I saw an add on TV for it and decided it looked interesting. This one is actually a sci-fi show and so far its been pretty good.

• The Unicorn (Didn't rate this one) (Final rating 4.5)
This is another one that I did't pay attention to from its full page description. But it turns out its by far my favourite new sitcom of the season. The only problem is that it might be hard to do a second season, as they really play off the fact he is really new at the dating scene, and after a year, it might seem like they need to find a new angle for the show. But I really like the characters and I look forward to it each week.

And here is a look at the shows that didn't make it from last season, as long as the ones that were renewed for a second season.

From the RIP list, I am going to miss:
Abby's - Funny show
A.P. Bio - Really funny show
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Lots of fun, even if you had to fast forward through some of the songs
Elementary - The only cop type show I was watching
The Kids are Alright - Really, really funny show
Speechless - Was a great show, but the final season was not the best
Splitting Up Together - This one was also really good first season, but not as good in the final season

From the shows that were renewed from last season, I was glad to see these shows back:
God Friended Me - My son and I watch this together
Single Parents - This is currently my favourite sitcom

TV is really not what it once was. Back in the 80's and 90's I can remember being so excited for the new fall season of TV shows and so was everyone else. We were all watching the same shows. Now, I have cable and I feel like I have the most choices, but even so, when I look at the TV Week listings I see so many shows that I don't have access to on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. The Fall TV Season is just not as exciting as it once was. Its way to fractured now and I just see it getting worse as time go on and we get even more splintered into smaller and smaller ecosystems Honestly, I can't believe they still feel TW Week magazine. I buy the Fall Preview issue every year along with the returning Series issue, but other than the pages in the front and back of the issue that list the new shows, the rest of the magazine which is television listings is a huge waste of paper, as I can easily see the guide right on my TV. I do remember the days when along with TV Guide and TV Week, there was a TV listings magazine included in the weekend newspaper, and a free TV listings magazine full of ads you could pickup at the grocery store or a hundred other places. I really do wonder who is still buying TV Week magazine for the show listings? That said, I can't wait for next year so I can pick up the new issues of the Fall Preview and Returning Shows issues!

2019 Fall TV Preview

It's September and time for another batch of new TV shows to show up on cable television. I'm one of the few still subscribed to cable TV. I don't want to have to subscribe to a bunch of different services such as Netflix, Hulu and HBO. I like to be able to turn my TV on and see my shows all in one place. Before the fragmenting of cable TV with all these new cable-cutting services, September was an exciting time for me with ALL the new shows available on my TV. Sadly now with myself having cable, I get all the new 'cable' shows, but there are shows on other services that I will not have a chance to watch, such as two recent shows that I have yet to have the opportunity to see, Daredevil and the Tick.
The TV Week Fall Preview issue is out now, and this seasons list of new shows on cable is looking rather anemic for my tastes. Lets dive in and see what I'll be checking out this fall. I will give each show a rating out of 5 for how much I am looking forward to it - 5 being the ones I am most excited about:

• Batwoman (4) I love Batman, so this could be interesting. I also love the CW show Flash, so if this is as good as that I may continue watching. Sadly I didn't stick with Gotham (a show based in the Batman universe), as I found it to much like a teen soap opera, with too little Batman to keep me tuning in. I have a feeling this one will be the same.

• Bless the Harts (2) This is an animated Fox show that could be fun, but from the photo shown, the art style looks to much like the crapy style of Bobs Burgers which I'm not a fan of. Its also sandwiched in a block of animation that doesn't appeal to me. The Simpsons are good, but after all these years, I don't feel the need to watch it any longer and Bobs Burgers and Family Guy are not shows I watch.

• Bob Hearts Abishola (1) Its a sitcom (something there are not many of these days) which I like, so I will give it a shot, but I'm not expecting much.

• Nancy Drew (3) I was a big fan of the Hardy Boys when I was young, and recently I read a monthly Nancy Drew comic book, so will give this a chance. But, because it is on the CW, I am expecting it to be for a much younger audience than myself.

• Carol's Second Act (4) Another sitcom, so I'll automatically give it a try. And I loved The Middle, so it could be fun seeing Patrica Heaton on this new show.

• Sunnyside (2) I'll give this a try. Depending on how much I like the cast, this could be a fun show.

Each fall season seems to get less interesting and this year with only 6 shows I am planning on checking out, this is probably the least amount of shows I have planned on watching ever. And the mid season show list doesn't look any more promising. From the very short descriptions of the 27 mid season shows, there is not one that looks interesting enough to have me looking forward February. Hopefully next weeks issue of TV Week, with the returning favourites and new specialty shows, will be a little more promising.

Batman's Dostoyevsky Comics

Here is a Batman story you have probably never seen before. Its from Masterpiece comics (Where classics and cartoons collide!) by R. Sikoryak, first edition 2009. One of the stories in the book is this one titled "Crime and Punishment!"