Steve Ditko’s ‘The Ever Unreachable’

For comic book readers, Steve Ditko is a name to be reckoned with. In a career spanning more than five decades, Ditko has drawn countless pages in every genre for every major publisher. Ditko has created scores of original characters and is probably best known for co-creating The Amazing Spider-Man. Ditko is also the author of many non-fiction essays on topics that range from the popular culture to metaphysics.

Several months ago, Big Hollywood posted Steve Ditko’s provocative essay, “Toyland”. It was a powerfully written piece on creativity, philosophy, heroism and the disturbing trend towards nihilism in the culture.  As a result, “Toyland” got some interesting comments and Ditko has prepared the following as a response.

Written especially for Big Hollywood, here is Steve Ditko’s “The Ever Unreachable.” (more…)

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Tags: 9/11, A is A, Aristotle, Bill of Rights, Comic Books
Posted Nov 21st 2009 at 7:03 am in Art, Books and Literature, Culture, Featured Story | 26313854 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/blash/2009/11/21/steve-ditkos-the-ever-unreachable/Steve+Ditko%27s+%27The+Ever+Unreachable%272009-11-21+15%3A03%3A42Batton+Lash

Pledge of Allegiance to Dissent: An Intolerant ‘Excess of Liberty’?

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  

An Arkansas fifth-grader made news recently by claiming there is no “liberty and justice for all” in America as his reason for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during his school’s daily patriotic exercises. 

Red Skelton could’ve taught him a thing or two:

– 

Of course, the Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that as long as such dissent is practiced in a non-disruptive manner a student is acting well within his Constitutional rights — his faulty reasoning for the dissent being irrelevant — and he may not be compelled to participate by either the school, or the state. 

Teachers and administrators are strictly prohibited from singling out such peaceful dissent for discipline, admonishment or public ridicule.  (more…)

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Tags: gay marriage, Pledge of Allegiance, public school, Red Skelton, school
Posted Nov 20th 2009 at 3:12 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 266126192 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/11/20/pledge-of-allegiance-to-dissent-an-intolerant-excess-of-liberty/Pledge+of+Allegiance+to+Dissent%3A+An+Intolerant+%E2%80%98Excess+of+Liberty%E2%80%99%3F2009-11-20+23%3A12%3A34Adam+Baldwin

It’s Morning-After In America

I awoke this morning with a splitting headache.  As I staggered to the bathroom I blew past the mirror without a glance, fearful of the report.  I hadn’t felt this awful since I can’t remember when.  Though memory eluded me as to the details, I was certain that I had tied on the Mother of All Benders.  As I stared blearily into the commode bowl, I studied it disinterestedly for any and all evidence my stomach contents may have divulged as to just what the hell had happened the previous night.   

Nothing came to me but more questions.  Satisfied that no further gastric contributions could tell the tale, I rose from the bathroom floor, shrugged unconvincingly and hit the flusher.   What a perfect way to end unseemly encounters.  Flush them. 

I proceeded to weave an unsteady trail down the hallway in the general direction of a coffee pot.  My daughter had arisen before me and FOX News was already drifting in from the other room; Bill Hemmer recounting the latest on the decision to move the admitted 911 terrorists to NYC for trial. 

And then it struck me like a wet trout.  (more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, bush, Congress, george w. bush, health care
Posted Nov 20th 2009 at 2:02 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 26610263 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggraham/2009/11/20/its-morning-after-in-america/It%27s+Morning-After+In+America2009-11-20+22%3A02%3A55Gary+Graham

‘Newsweek’s’ Snobbish Stand-Up Slam

Stand-up comedy is the least respected of all the performing arts. As if being a stand-up comic weren’t hard enough; the years of being judged by every person who owns a liquor license and a microphone, driving six hours to a non-existent gig, begging moronic agents and managers who are looking for a “new, original and exciting” talent to come out to see your show only to be asked why you aren’t more “Seinfeld-ish.” On top of that it takes years to develop an act and find your voice on stage. There are child actors, child musicians, tiny dancers and even I would guess a few very young working writers, but no child comics. Why? Because stand-up comedy is the only experiential-based art form. Kids can tell “jokes” but they can’t do stand-up. Stand-up comedy, really good stand-up comedy has evolved from joke telling into a personal narrative dialogue with the audience.

Still, every now and then some elitist hack with a degree from the right college and the proper connections gets a job at a failing weekly magazine and decides to take a shot at you and your profession, feeling they are qualified to judge this art form because they know how to laugh and talk. This is rarely if ever done with other art forms. Seriously folks, when is the last time you saw an article about actors who can’t act, dancers who can’t dance, painters who can’t paint or pointless “performance artists.” Yet, about every six months some “critic” declares a number of famous comics “not funny.”    (more…)

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Tags: Barney Frank, Bill Maher, Bob Goldthwaite, Dan Horn, Dane Cook
Posted Nov 20th 2009 at 12:33 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Media Criticism | 26448698 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena/2009/11/20/newsweeks-snobbish-stand-up-slam/%27Newsweek%27s%27+Snobbish+Stand-Up+Slam2009-11-20+20%3A33%3A19Jeffrey+Jena

More Proof That America is a Racist Country

America is an inherently racist country.

Oh, sure, we elected a black President (or is this our second black President?  That whole Clinton-as-first-black-President thing always confuses me).  And yes, our biggest sports, TV, music and film stars tend to be black.  And sure our past Secretaries of State, National Security Advisers and the current Chairman of the Republican Party are all black.  But this proves nothing, NOTHING!

If you ever wanted more proof that America is, at its heart a racist society, Universal has provided us with the perfect smoking gun:  They re-designed a film poster for overseas distribution and in re-designing it, they removed two black actors.  I will let the horror of what they did soak in for a moment while you read the report from London’s Daily Mail: (more…)

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Tags: "Couples Retreat", Faizon Love, Hollywood. Political Correctness, Kali Hawk, Kristen Davis
Posted Nov 20th 2009 at 5:07 am in Featured Story, Film, Politics | 26529876 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/11/20/more-proof-that-america-is-a-racist-country/More+Proof+That+America+is+a+Racist+Country2009-11-20+13%3A07%3A55Stage+Right

A Clue for Megan Fox: Trashing Your Audience is a Bad Idea

Someone call the waaahmbulance: Megan Fox’s starring turn in the movie “Jennifer’s Body” didn’t do as well as she’d hoped and she’s looking for a scapegoat. Naturally, she turns to the unwashed masses in Middle America:

The actress tells The New York Times that her movie “Jennifer’s Body” tanked because “the movie is about a man-eating, cannibalistic lesbian cheerleader, and that pretty much eliminates middle America.”

Actually, Megan, that pretty much eliminates anyone with an ounce of taste. Here’s more on the movie’s plot via IMDB:

Nerdy, reserved bookworm Needy and arrogant, conceited cheerleader Jennifer are best friends, though they share little in common. They share even less in common when Jennifer mysteriously gains an appetite for human blood after a disastrous fire at a local bar. As Needy’s male classmates are steadily killed off in gruesome attacks, the young girl must uncover the truth behind her friend’s transformation and find a way to stop the bloodthirsty rampage before it reaches her own boyfriend Chip.

(more…)

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Tags: Applebee's, gone with the wind, Jennifer's Body, megan fox, sarah palin
Posted Nov 19th 2009 at 10:35 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 264118149 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pmeister/2009/11/19/a-clue-for-megan-fox-trashing-your-audience-is-a-bad-idea/A+Clue+for+Megan+Fox%3A+Trashing+Your+Audience+is+a+Bad+Idea2009-11-19+18%3A35%3A40Pam+Meister

Fear, Children, & Video – Ingredients for Obama’s Weapon of Mass Persuasion

Fear is a powerful propaganda weapon. But couple fear with the innocence of childhood and you have a hair-triggered nuclear bomb of persuasion. One need only spend fifteen minutes watching the finalists of President Obama’s health reform video contest to experience its influence.

The Health Reform Video Challenge, launched by Obama’s Organizing for America in September, is a contest “to make the best 30-second ad showing why the President’s plan for reform is so critical.” The winning video, selected by a list of Hollywood elites and Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe, will be the basis for a new television ad that will air across the country delivering a clear message to viewers – children will die if health care reform is not passed. The secondary message is only one Defcon level lower on the fear-o-meter – the parents of sick or injured children will go bankrupt or lose their houses for even the simplest of injuries.

–

Using children to pluck at the heartstrings of the electorate and further a political agenda is nothing new, but it shifts into the land of Disgustopia when our young are exploited to distort the truth or spread outright falsehoods. The winning video opens with a young boy stating, “A year from now I’ll break my leg and my parents will have to sell our house because we couldn’t afford health care.”

This statement is designed to instill broad fear and disseminate the idea that anyone, even a family faced with the common injury of a broken leg, is susceptible to being thrust from their homes as a consequence of being uninsured. The odds of needing to sell your home to pay for the cost of a broken leg are so remote that it borders on preposterous to use it as an example of why we need reform. House closing costs in almost every scenario would exceed the medical bill, yet this is the video that the President’s organization has selected to justify the need for reform. It’s much easier to sell health care reform if our system is so fractured that a broken leg can expel a family out from under the safety of their roof. (more…)

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Tags: Barack Obama, health care, healthcare, hollywood, nancy pelosi
Posted Nov 19th 2009 at 5:01 am in Featured Story, Film, Politics | 26478675 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/11/19/fear-children-video-ingredients-for-obamas-nuclear-bomb-of-persuasion/Fear%2C+Children%2C+%26amp%3B+Video+-+Ingredients+for+Obama%27s+Weapon+of+Mass+Persuasion2009-11-19+13%3A01%3A33Patrick+Courrielche

How the Movies Spawned ‘The First Assassin’

You’ve heard it said before: “The book is better than the movie.” But the movies helped me write my new book, The First Assassin.

The First Assassin is a historical thriller set primarily in Washington, D.C., at the start of the Civil War. Bestselling author Vince Flynn blurbs it on the front cover: “An excellent book–it’s like The Day of the Jackal set in 1861 Washington.”

The Day of the Jackal is a twofer: Both the book (by Frederick Forsyth) and the movie (the 1973 version) are excellent. But the book is still better. It’s super excellent.

Anyway, I started working on The First Assassin in 1996–more than 13 years ago. Yeah, that’s a long time. It was the project I kept setting aside when something more pressing came along, such as the birth of a child or a writing deadline that came with a guaranteed paycheck. (more…)

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Tags: Abraham L, abraham lincoln, Charles Pomeroy Stone, Civil War, Col. Charles Rook
Posted Nov 18th 2009 at 1:18 pm in Books and Literature, Featured Story, Film | 26392616 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jmiller/2009/11/18/how-the-movies-spawned-the-first-assassin/How+the+Movies+Spawned+%27The+First+Assassin%272009-11-18+21%3A18%3A29John+J.+Miller

‘The Blind Side’: Predictable Critics, Predictable Criticism

I haven’t seen “The Blind Side” yet, so I won’t say anything about the quality of the film. But based on the trailer and the true story, my wife and I are as excited about this as any film in a long time. It tells the true story of the adoption of Michael Oher by the Tuohy family in Tennessee and how they helped him go from homeless teenager to professional football star. The book was incredible, the story miraculous. We’re especially excited because we’re big adoption advocates, currently in the middle of our first of many planned adoptions. Also, the Tuohys happen to be conservative Christians like we are, and we don’t normally get to see families like that on screen, at least in movies that are watchable.

Apparently, this makes me a racist.

You see, Michael Oher happens to be black, and the Tuohys happen to be white. I actually think that’s pretty cool, especially because they live in Tennessee, and what gets us farther from the evil days of segregation than an increased number of mixed-race families? One would assume that liberals especially would be excited about that, right?

Not so fast. The other day, after we saw the trailer again (we get choked up every single time), I casually mentioned that it wouldn’t shock me if some critics complained that the movie was a “typical white person saves a black person” story. Call it a hunch. I emailed a smart writer friend and mentioned that I’d like to write an article predicting the coming backlash, and he said I might want to reconsider because I could look “strident” if I was wrong. My immediate reaction was one of indignance as I thought angrily to myself, “What does ’strident’ mean?” (more…)

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Tags: christian, conservative, Huffington Post, sandra bullock, Southern
Posted Nov 18th 2009 at 5:04 am in Featured Story, Film, Religion | 264066145 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/djenkins/2009/11/18/blind-side-predictable-critics-and-their-predictable-criticism/%27The+Blind+Side%27%3A+Predictable+Critics%2C+Predictable+Criticism2009-11-18+13%3A04%3A17Dallas+Jenkins

NBC’s ObamaVision: ‘Law and Order’ — ‘This Is Why We Need Health-Care Reform’

NBC’s “Law and Order” is in its 20th season. The economy is weak, so they have devolved to converting White House talking points into weekly shows. Last week, “Doped” was a farcical equivalent of “Damien Thorn meets Karen Silkwood.” Pharmaceutical companies and Doctors are worse than drug cartels. The killers in the previous week’s episode on such cartels were more sympathetic than the health professionals. 

In the opening scene, a woman with 4 children is driving the wrong way down the West Side Highway (like the Diane Schuler Taconic Parkway horror this summer). Speaking on her cell phone erratically (no “hands free!”), the kids get concerned. She decides it is time to use nasal spray for her allergies, which had been spiked without her knowledge. Flash forward and viewers see two mangled vehicles resulting in seven deaths.  (more…)

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Tags: Green Week, health care, Jack McCoy, law and order, nbc
Posted Nov 17th 2009 at 10:03 am in Featured Story, Politics, Television | 261554571 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mrulle/2009/11/17/nbcs-obamavision-law-and-order-this-is-why-we-need-health-care-reform/NBC%27s+ObamaVision%3A+%27Law+and+Order%27+--+%27This+Is+Why+We+Need+Health-Care+Reform%272009-11-17+18%3A03%3A59Michael+S.+Rulle+Jr.

Political Correctness, Ft. Hood, and Hollywood

Almost before the echo of gunfire from the massacre at Ft. Hood had faded, the news media launched a pre-emptive rationalization for the slaughter committed by Muslim traitor Nidal Malik Hasan. To divert attention from the shooter’s inconvenient name (“I cringe that he’s Muslim,” said Newsweek’s Evan Thomas), the talking heads began speculating sympathetically about the fragile mental state of poor frazzled Hasan, who had never seen combat but nonetheless must have “snapped.” After all, surely there could be no rational, ideological motive for the mass murder, which President Obama labeled “incomprehensible.”  And “it’s certainly not about his religion, Islam,” denied Senator Lindsey Graham. Indeed, from listening to such “experts” as irrelevant diet book author Dr. Phil (“this is not a well act”), you’d think that Hasan was the victim, not the fourteen dead* and the nearly thirty seriously wounded that he left in his heartless wake. Even as a mountain of accumulating evidence irrefutably exposed Hasan’s act as premeditated violent jihad against the U.S. military, stubborn left-leaning commentators clung to their theory of mental derangement.

George Clooney in 2005’s  Syriana

Meanwhile the national discussion has segued to our own collective insanity, political correctness, which we are now discovering paved the very way for the massacre. It is this cultural and mental straightjacket that forced a U.S. Army general to say diversity is more important than losing American lives; that compelled our Homeland Security Secretary to reassure the Arab world that we’re doing everything we can to protect against a mythical Muslim backlash; that prevented people from speaking out about red flags that could have saved the lives of everyone murdered at Ft. Hood; and that prevents our officials from even naming the enemy. No such ailment afflicts the jihadists, however, who are celebrating Hasan as a hero, who have no problem acknowledging his ideological intent, and who recognize our political correctness as a self-inflicted fatal wound. Unlike our leaders and media elites, they don’t sap their wartime focus with hand-wringing and navel-gazing. (more…)

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Tags: "Redacted", al-Qaradawi, Arab film industry, Atlas Shrugs, Barrie Osborne
Posted Nov 17th 2009 at 4:48 am in Culture, Featured Story, Film, Military, Religion | 261714139 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mtapson/2009/11/17/political-correctness-ft-hood-and-hollywood/Political+Correctness%2C+Ft.+Hood%2C+and+Hollywood2009-11-17+12%3A48%3A07Mark+Tapson

‘Gossip Girl,’ CW Network and Entertainment Media Engage in Threesome

Threesomes are Hollywood’s latest obsession.  Within weeks of the release of Britney Spears’ asinine “Ballad” about engaging in a menagerie, CW leaked details about a threesome they were planning on the hit show Gossip Girl.  In what could easily be confused as part of a massive Hollywood-led campaign in support of teen pregnancy and a wide array of sexually transmitted diseases, CW decided that exploiting filth for a heavy cash flow was more important that exercising common sense and decency.  Surprise!

If you’re thinking, “Threesome?! That’s news to me,” be sure to read John P. Hanlon’s article.” Hanlon explains the whole debacle in detail.  However, I’m here to delve further into the insanity surrounding CW’s latest scheme to nab viewer appreciation.

The only thing more grotesque than CW’s exploitation of a threesome for ratings is the media’s coverage of the menage a trois.  In a recent article, Michael Ausiello (Entertainment Weekly) was ecstatic over the impending sex scene – so excited that he taunted readers with his foreknowledge telling them, “Though my Gossip mole has asked that I not ID the threesome (on the grounds that it would ruin a major upcoming storyline, or some such nonsense), I can confirm that the kinky tryst will involve one of the following combos…”  Ausiello then proceeds to list possible character combos.  (more…)

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Tags: abstinence, CW, Gossip Girl, Hilary Duff
Posted Nov 16th 2009 at 1:13 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, News | 26247849 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bhallowell/2009/11/16/gossip-girl-cw-network-and-entertainment-media-engage-in-threesome/%27Gossip+Girl%2C%27+CW+Network+and+Entertainment+Media+Engage+in+Threesome2009-11-16+21%3A13%3A58Billy+Hallowell

NBC’s ObamaVision: GE Uses Network To Push Obama’s Green Agenda — And Rakes In the Dough

What do you call it when the federal government pays a private company some money so that the private company will stump for the federal government’s agenda?  Payola.  Under the FCC rules and regulations, “When a broadcast licensee has received or been promised payment for the airing of program material, then, at the time of the airing, the station must disclose that fact and identify who paid for or promised to pay for the material.” 

So what do you call it when the federal government steers money to a major broadcast network so that the major broadcast network will stump for the federal government’s agenda? 

That’s precisely what’s happening over at NBC this week.  According to the Associated Press: 

NBC gives new meaning to the phrase “green screen” next week, spreading a pro-environmental message across five of its prime-time entertainment programs.  “30 Rock,” where Al Gore takes a cameo role, leads the way. Environmental themes were also added to the scripts of “The Biggest Loser,” “The Office,” “Heroes” and “Community.”  NBC Universal’s three-year “green” campaign has largely focused on off-camera issues like making company facilities more eco-friendly. News and information programs have also been enlisted to do stories on environmental issues, but except for one “30 Rock” episode two years ago, the campaign hasn’t touched the prime-time lineup. 

Now, it’s clear that NBC has pushed this “green agenda” for years.  And that makes sense – General Electric owns NBC, and General Electric is at the forefront in terms of producing “green products” like energy efficient lightbulbs.  In May 2005, GE launched its $90 million “Ecomagination” advertising campaign, designed to demonstrate “GE’s commitment to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water,” according to GE CEO Jeff Immelt.  (more…)

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Tags: Al Gore, AP, GE, Green Week, Immelt
Posted Nov 16th 2009 at 2:59 am in Featured Story, Politics, Television | 26154244 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bshapiro/2009/11/16/propaganda-ge-uses-nbc-to-push-obamas-green-agenda-and-rakes-in-the-dough/NBC%27s+ObamaVision%3A+GE+Uses+Network+To+Push+Obama%27s+Green+Agenda+--+And+Rakes+In+the+Dough2009-11-16+10%3A59%3A44Ben+Shapiro

Top Ten Power Pop Albums of ‘09

The world may have entered a gigantic metaphorical sphincter but there is progress in at least one field.  Power pop has never been better.  We are living in one of the great musical flowerings of history and it shows no sign of abating.  I had a real problem picking just ten records for my top ten, so I kept on going.  Just a little bit.  We’ve still got a ways to go so I might have to update this list. 

The qualitative differences among the top five are nugatory.  One could easily choose any of them as the record of the year. 

–

#1: The Shazam – Meteor

These big-hearted stadium rockers have been building toward this titanic yawp of iconic anthems for years.

“So Awesome” opens the record with a twenty-one guitar salute to the joy of living, lead guitar as hard and elegant as the Golden Gate Bridge.  “Don’t Look Down” is a power ballad with every lick carved in stone.  You could climb the notes like a staircase.  Hans Rotenberry’s vocals are winsome and masterful, going from cooed aside to anthemic bellow in a heartbeat.  “Disco at the Fairground” is the best Move song the Move never recorded.  Alternating sinister, earth-chewing minor chords with drunken sailor music hall choruses it crunches euphorically.  Zappa would approve. (more…)

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Tags: Broken Promise Keeper, Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder, Curtains for You, Fun, Jeff Litman
Posted Nov 15th 2009 at 6:26 am in Featured Story, Music | 26201058 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mbaron/2009/11/15/top-ten-power-pop-albums-of-09/Top+Ten+Power+Pop+Albums+of+%27092009-11-15+14%3A26%3A47Mike+Baron

Obama: The Woody Boyd Candidate

Earlier this year, I rented and re-watched the entire series run of Cheers. Towards the end of the series, the hayseed junior bartender Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) decides to run for city council. He is encouraged in this endeavor by psychiatrist Fraser Crane (Kelsey Grammer), the bar’s resident elite, who acts as Woody’s campaign manager.

Fraser masterminds Woody’s campaign as a social experiment: He is convinced that anyone, even a bumpkin, can get elected, simply by spouting vague cliches. His advice to Woody? Don’t be specific on the campaign trail – just repeat empty slogans like “change.”

When I saw this, I burst out laughing – perhaps this is where Axelrod & Co. received their inspiration for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign theme, I surmised. (more…)

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Tags: "Cheers", Obama, Ted Danson, Woody Boyd, Woody Harrelson
Posted Nov 14th 2009 at 6:10 pm in Featured Story, Political Humor, Politics | 259954132 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/11/14/obama-the-woody-boyd-candidate/Obama%3A+The+Woody+Boyd+Candidate2009-11-15+02%3A10%3A28Matt+Patterson

The Future of Comics and Other Publishing

You can probably date yourself by remembering how much comic books cost when you were a kid. Was it a dime, a quarter, a dollar? Can you believe they cost $4 now?

As the greenies would say, that’s unsustainable. Comic books used to be common. If you went in any kids house in the 50s or early 60s you would probably find some. Not so much anymore. Comics once sold everywhere magazines were sold. You could buy them in drug stores, supermarkets, seven-elevens, newsstands, even some liquor stores. But the so called “newsstand market” was a hostile place to comics publishers, and a shrinking one.

These days, it’s hard to find comics anywhere outside of the comic book store. That means that comics have become a “destination product.” It’s something you need to know where it’s sold, you have to physically go there and if you’re lucky, they might have what you’re looking for. However, most comics retailers order to sell out. So the odds are, you may be unlucky if you don’t come on “comics day,” the day the books come in from the distributor.

And that’s another problem with comics these days. There is only one distributor. When I got in the business in the mid 80s, there were around ten distributors. But over the years they all went under leaving Diamond Comics as the sole place publishers can distribute through to the “Direct Market,” as we call it. It’s like government run health care, if there’s only one place to go for your needs, you have to like their terms. (more…)

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Tags: "Direct Market", Comic Books, comics, DC, Diamond Comics
Posted Nov 14th 2009 at 6:22 am in Art, Culture, Featured Story | 25654286 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/11/14/the-future-of-comics-and-other-publishing/The+Future+of+Comics+and+Other+Publishing2009-11-14+14%3A22%3A37James+Hudnall

‘The Demands of Political Correctness’

In reply to a recent political and cultural controversy involving “Sesame Street,” Sesame Workshop Executive Vice President Miranda Barry wrote:   

Jim Henson, Jon Stone, Frank Oz and others set a witty and silly tone for Sesame Street that our current writers work to maintain despite the demands of political correctness. 

What then, specifically, are the demands of political correctness that Ms. Barry’s taxpayer-funded organization operates under? 

What is Political Correctness? 

For an exacting scholarly analyses of Political Correctness we can turn to Free Congress Foundation & William Lind’s The History of Political Correctness. 

As Mr. Lind distills:

If we look at [Political Correctness] analytically, if we look at it historically, we quickly find out exactly what it is. Political Correctness is cultural Marxism. It is Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms.  (more…)

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Tags: Miranda Barry, Ms. Barry, pbs, political correctness, Sesame Street
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 1:18 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics, Television | 262598176 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/11/13/the-demands-of-political-correctness/%27The+Demands+of+Political+Correctness%272009-11-13+21%3A18%3A01Adam+Baldwin

The Hidden Truth Behind ‘V’

Like many conservatives, I was intrigued and excited by the promos for ABC’s reboot of one of my favorite mini-series, “V.” Finally, we thought, one of us had infiltrated the system and slipped one by the hippies who run Hollywood.  Even better, we hoped that ABC, in a brash display of “corporate greed” had decided to green-light a series that appeals to the many of us (the majority of the country actually) who are less than enthralled by the hopey changeiness of the current administration.

Old School Visitor

But alas, it wasn’t meant to be.  As my colleague Jeffrey Jena pointed out, the show’s writer is a devout leftist and Obama supporter.  The show was actually written in 2007, long before David Axelrod and his minions concocted the brilliant marketing campaign that elevated an inexperienced and naive community organizer to the most powerful position in the world.

So, is that it?  Case closed?  Is “V” not an indictment and slam at the “O-mania” that swept the nation?  Far from it.  In fact, the show contains two powerful messages that should warm the hearts of all conservatives and make leftists think twice. (more…)

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Tags: big government, health care, Obama, socialism, stimulus
Posted Nov 13th 2009 at 5:03 am in Featured Story, Politics, Television | 259658182 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lscott/2009/11/13/the-hidden-truth-behind-v/The+Hidden+Truth+Behind+%27V%272009-11-13+13%3A03%3A05Leigh+Scott

INTERVIEW: Former Miss California Carrie Prejean

Apart from the fact that she’s a smoking hot California babe and I’m a 47-year-old mother of two teenage sons, Carrie Prejean and I do have some things in common. We’re both from San Diego. We both attend The Rock, an urban mega-church pastored by former San Diego Chargers defensive back, Miles McPherson. And we’ve both been slammed as raging “homophobes” by the New Media left. 

So when Andrew Breitbart asked me if I’d interview Carrie about her new book, Still Standing, out November 9 from Regnery, I chuckled and thought: The liberal faithful will think this is perfect: One “fanatical homophobe” interviewing another. 

Except that they would be wrong.

In case you’ve been living under a rock this year, Carrie Prejean is the former Miss California who became an accidental lightning rod in the spring. At a glitzy pageant held April 19 at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Carrie appeared poised to be crowned Miss USA. But during the final segment of the contest, a Q&A with pageant judges, Carrie drew as her questioner the gay gossip aficionado, Perez Hilton. 

Ignoring the longstanding pageant tradition of steering clear of politically charged questions, Hilton launched this salvo: “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”  (more…)

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Tags: Andrew Sullivan, Carrie Prejean, gay marriage, interview, Keith Lewis
Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 12:41 pm in Celebrity News, Culture, Featured Story, Political Humor | 260182347 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/lvincent/2009/11/12/interview-former-miss-california-carrie-prejean/INTERVIEW%3A+Former+Miss+California+Carrie+Prejean2009-11-12+20%3A41%3A24Lynn+Vincent

NEWLY REVEALED DOCUMENTS Contradict NEA Chairman Landesman

“The former NEA Director of Communications acted unilaterally and without the approval or authorization of then-Acting Chairman Patrice Walker Powell.” – Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, on September 22, 2009

Chairman Landesman’s claim that Yosi Sergant, the former NEA Communications Director, acted “unilaterally” on the controversial August 10th conference call is not only beginning to erode, but new documents obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act show that another federal employee thought the arts effort was entering murky legal waters.

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In an email dated July 30, 2009, Nellie Abernathy, a representative of the federal program United We Serve, sent an email to Sergant to inquire of his interest in attending a meeting regarding 9/11 events – the culmination day of the United We Serve campaign. In the email Abernathy states (emphasis added):

“Just got off the phone with [redacted]. They’re interested in helping produce some 9/11 events and will be in DC next week. Any chance you could join us for a meeting Tuesday morning? Or does this fall into that sketchy grey we might get arrested area?”

Sergant responded, “I’d love to.” (more…)

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Tags: Buffy Wicks, national endowment for the arts, nea, Nell Abernathy, rocco landesman
Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 5:03 am in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 261522192 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/11/12/newly-released-emails-appear-to-contradict-nea-chair-landesmans-statement/NEWLY+REVEALED+DOCUMENTS+Contradict+NEA+Chairman+Landesman2009-11-12+13%3A03%3A19Patrick+Courrielche

Part 2: The Super-Hero’s American Exceptionalism

Editor: This is the second part of a two-part series. You can read part one here.

The 1970s showed the once-invincible comic book super-heroes to be losers, in attitude and sales. Watergate had disillusioned the super-patriot Captain America with a storyline implying Nixon was the head of a terrorist group. The Captain trashes his outfit and becomes Nomad, The Man without a Country. My 11-year-old mind thought this was ridiculous, as Cap was originally a Depression-era 98-pound weakling until given a Super Soldier serum to bulk up and fight Nazis. It was unlikely that one of the “Greatest Generation” would bail on his country so readily. Even then I realized that this development merely mirrored a hippie writer’s attitude more than staying true to a character’s origins. 

Super-heroes became bleaker and even homicidal in the 1980s. The Punisher, a murderous vigilante, has become a top Marvel character. The Dark Knight Returns, a re-imagining of Batman, introduced an elderly caped crusader fighting the corrupt U.S. government represented by a stoogish Superman. Watchmen was set in a dystopic alternate reality where Nixon is still president and the super-group is made up of, among other miscreants, a rapist and mass murderer. It was a transmutation of established super-heroes from the 60s with Steve Ditko’s Objectivist hero The Question recast as the psychotic Rorschach.  (more…)

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Tags: America, American Exceptionalism, batman, Captain America, Comic
Posted Nov 11th 2009 at 2:05 pm in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 259362143 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mtodd/2009/11/11/part-2-the-super-heros-american-exceptionalism-by-mort-todd/Part+2%3A+The+Super-Hero%E2%80%99s+American+Exceptionalism2009-11-11+22%3A05%3A40Mort+Todd

PRESENTING: The ‘Fourth Graders For Obama’ YouTube Channel

Here’s a little mid-week scare courtesy of the 4thgraders4obama YouTube Channel. (Don’t waste your time — I searched high and low and no luck finding the 4thgraders4bush YouTube Channel.) Yes, you read that right, an entire portal filled with nearly a dozen videos devoted to nine and ten year-olds singing, speaking and in general, getting awfully excited over a politician on the brink of having us all long for the good old days of Jimmy Carter. Here’s a taste:

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The programmer teacher is Ms. Clark (she makes a short appearance here), but there wasn’t anything that identified the actual school. In last week’s Elementary Epidemic you saw a mix of Obama-enthusiasm. Some of the videotaped students were reminiscent of POWs speaking against their will on camera as they blink a Morse code plea for help, others were truly excited — and it’s the excited ones that are most worrisome. They’re gone. Lost forever… Ms. Clark’s entire class is like that.

The 4thgraders4obama videos do give us a broader glimpse into the methodology at work in our nation’s classrooms. In a couple of the videos you’ll see the kids watching President Obama on television and the whole class is as giddy as though they were in line for Space Mountain. Other videos have the kids standing before the camera reading what sounds like love letters to the First Family. Public or private school — that makes no difference. You don’t do this to young minds. There’s a wide berth between infusing your children with values and this. (more…)

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Tags: Obama, private school, public school, school, school children
Posted Nov 11th 2009 at 5:09 am in Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 25965471 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/11/11/the-fourth-graders-for-obama-youtube-channel/PRESENTING%3A+The+%27Fourth+Graders+For+Obama%27+YouTube+Channel2009-11-11+13%3A09%3A50John+Nolte

Part 1: The Super-Hero’s American Exceptionalism

Super-heroes are uniquely American in origin and reflective of the “Greatest Generation” that created them. Their progenitors can be traced to ancient myths though their direct foundation springs from American legends like Paul Bunyan and John Henry. Pulp literature fermented these heroes from the 1800s with Buffalo Bill, Nick Carter and on to Doc Savage. By the 1930s super-powered and costumed characters showed up in the newspaper comic strips including Popeye and the Phantom. 

The characters we now recognize as super-heroes crystallized with the debut of Superman in 1938. Representative of the American experience, Superman was the ultimate immigrant. Not merely from another country, the Man of Steel came from a whole different planet! With his success, publishers released a myriad of titles featuring crime-fighting patriotic adventurers who all fought for “truth, justice and the American way.” That included those who were born on an all-female island (the star-spangled Wonder Woman), from Atlantis (the Sub-Mariner), robots (the Human Torch) or even dead people (the Spectre and Kid Eternity)! Gaining super powers even reformed criminals as in Plastic Man’s case.  (more…)

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Tags: American Exceptionalism, batman, DC, Doc Savage, Fatalik
Posted Nov 10th 2009 at 12:52 pm in Art, Culture, Featured Story | 25935461 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mtodd/2009/11/10/part-1-the-super-heros-american-exceptionalism/Part+1%3A+The+Super-Hero%E2%80%99s+American+Exceptionalism2009-11-10+20%3A52%3A11Mort+Todd

Green Push on ‘Sesame Street’: Programming Your Kids For ‘Sustainable Living’

This week marks the start of Sesame Street’s 40th season.  As announced in an article in National Geographic, the show will be focusing on a green storyline this year:

As another example of the show’s forward thinking, Davis said, the new Sesame Street season that begins next week will introduce children to the basic ideas of sustainable living.  “It’s a curriculum about nature and caring for the world that is just right for today,” he said.  ”This show continues to stay very current with ideas that are in the zeitgeist.”

Sustainability.  Makes you feel smart just reading that word, doesn’t it?  Who doesn’t want sustainability?  This is a great new tactic of the Left; the raping of our language and the use of beautiful sounding, unassailable words to represent an agenda with far more controversial ideas.  Sustainability.

Sustainability is not just about putting your empty beer bottles into a special bin to keep them separate from your other trash.  It’s also more than driving a car with a giant battery in it (which will eventually poison our water system after all of these “Hybrids” end up in a landfill… didn’t think about THAT, did you Mr. Begley?).   It’s also more than building giant solar panels which require preciously scarce water to stay constantly clean and efficient or giant windmills which end up killing endangered birds.  No, sustainability is not any of those ineffective yet relatively benign efforts at “saving our planet.” Sustainability, as a National policy, is the most regressive and dangerous idea the Green-Left has ever put forth.  Sustainability is the death of the West’s economic dominance. (more…)

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Tags: 40th anniversary, National Geographic, Sesame Street, Sustainability, sustainable living
Posted Nov 10th 2009 at 4:03 am in Featured Story, Politics, Television | 260098107 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/11/10/green-push-on-sesame-street-programming-your-kids-for-sustainable-living/Green+Push+on+%27Sesame+Street%27%3A+Programming+Your+Kids+For+%27Sustainable+Living%272009-11-10+12%3A03%3A23Stage+Right

‘Sesame Street’: Habitat for Political Correctness

Having received some criticism for my last post about “Sesame Street,” I would like to briefly respond to some of the questions and assertions in the comment section. 

What’s so bad about saying “we share common humanity despite ethnic/religious/linguistic differences?” 

A main tenet of the multiculturalism and Enviro-Statism inculcated by Modern Liberal educators and as practiced on “Sesame Street” — exemplified in “We All Sing the Same Song,” is the diminishment of the unique greatness of American culture. 

Political Correctness and its Critical Theory are shamefully deployed against American culture to create a false front of “equality” to less free, less successful, and deviant cultures around the globe. 

That is neither a healthy, nor appropriate form of values inculcation upon young American children, nor is it a responsible expenditure of American tax dollars.  (more…)

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Tags: children, DVD, environmentalism, pbs, Sesame Street
Posted Nov 9th 2009 at 8:28 am in Culture, Featured Story, Politics, Television | 260138173 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/11/09/sesame-street-habitat-for-political-correctness/%27Sesame+Street%27%3A+Habitat+for+Political+Correctness2009-11-09+16%3A28%3A01Adam+Baldwin

Natalie Portman: Meat’s a Sin, Free Polanski

Natalie Portman is a vegetarian – a vegan, to be precise – and she thinks you should be one too. At least, that’s the impression I get from her article at the Huffington Post. In fact, she really goes so far as to infer that those of us who eat animals or animal products are inhumane beasts.

Apparently, reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals transformed her from a vegetarian to being a full-fledged vegan activist:

I’ve always been shy about being critical of others’ choices because I hate when people do that to me. I’m often interrogated about being vegetarian (e.g., “What if you find out that carrots feel pain, too? Then what’ll you eat?”).

I’ve also been afraid to feel as if I know better than someone else — a historically dangerous stance (I’m often reminded that “Hitler was a vegetarian, too, you know”). But this book reminded me that some things are just wrong. Perhaps others disagree with me that animals have personalities, but the highly documented torture of animals is unacceptable, and the human cost Foer describes in his book, of which I was previously unaware, is universally compelling.

But she somehow managed to overcome those fears and tell you exactly why you should think the way she does. Well done, Natalie! (more…)

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Tags: animal cruelty, Animal Rights, Eating Animals, Huffington Post, Jeffrey Dahmer
Posted Nov 9th 2009 at 6:44 am in Celebrity News, Culture, Featured Story | 255250263 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pmeister/2009/11/09/defining-natalie-portman/Natalie+Portman%3A+Meat%27s+a+Sin%2C+Free+Polanski2009-11-09+14%3A44%3A39Pam+Meister

EXCLUSIVE BOOK EXCERPT: ‘Still Standing: The Untold Story of My Fight Against Gossip, Hate, and Political Attacks’

Excerpt From: “Still Standing” — Chapter 6

The other girls began to react to what had transpired between Perez and me as soon as the lights went down. Miss Vermont later told FOX News, “A lot of people were  shocked. We were all kind of giving each other those eyes. We couldn’t believe it.”

As soon as I got back to the tent behind the stage to change, someone shouted, “California, Access Hollywood wants to interview you.”

“Why me? I didn’t win.”

As I walked back and put my flowers down, I felt all eyes on me, which was strange because I wasn’t the winner, but there was this sort of buzz in the air, and it seemed to be buzzing around me. Part of it was that many of the house moms, who looked after the girls at the pageant, were coming up to me and whispering that I did the right thing in standing up for traditional marriage; they told me they were proud of me. I appreciated their kind words, but really my primary thought, after the letdown of losing, was to get out of this tight gown, take off all my makeup, eat a cheeseburger, and just go home and recover from the stress and strain of the last three weeks—weeks in which I had not seen my family, except in the audience. (more…)

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Tags: "Still Standing", Carrie Prejean
Posted Nov 8th 2009 at 9:03 pm in Culture, Featured Story, Politics, Religion | 252878167 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cprejean/2009/11/08/embargoed-for-release-until-9pm-pt-sunday-november-8-2009/EXCLUSIVE+BOOK+EXCERPT%3A+%27Still+Standing%3A+The+Untold+Story+of+My+Fight+Against+Gossip%2C+Hate%2C+and+Political+Attacks%272009-11-09+05%3A03%3A44Carrie+Prejean

Movies We Like: ‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters’ (1956)

So, when it came time for our little girl to watch her first grown-up movie, I was torn between Saving Private Ryan and a film I have loved since I was a kid, Godzilla, King of the Monsters.  Now, Private Ryan teaches important, practical lessons that every American should learn, like how to maneuver your infantry company across a beachhead under fire to wipe out a Nazi crew-served weapons bunker. On the other hand, Godzilla has a hideous dragon with radioactive breath.  Tough call, but we decided to save Private Ryan for when she’s six – better late than never.

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What is the enduring fascination with a 55-year old flick that stars a fake Japanese reptile stomping Toyko into matchsticks?  The first thing is that Godzilla is a truly entertaining movie.  Actually, it’s two movies.  The version most Americans have seen on TV is the 1956 re-cut version of the 98-minute original Japanese movie, Gojira.  Some American producers decided it could make them a bundle, but it needed a bit of familiarization before the American audience would accept it.  They hired a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr to film some awkward footage as American reporter “Steve Martin,” cut out a lot of draggy filler, and shipped the slimmed down 80-minute final product to drive-ins all over the fruited plain. (more…)

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Tags: 40th Infantry Division, A Nightmare on Elm Street, A-Bomb, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Asahi
Posted Nov 8th 2009 at 6:24 am in Classic Hollywood, Featured Story, Film, Reviews | 25620250 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kschlichter/2009/11/08/movies-we-like-godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-1956/Movies+We+Like%3A++%27Godzilla%2C+King+of+the+Monsters%27+%281956%292009-11-08+14%3A24%3A12Kurt+Schlichter

Rammstein: Teutonic Metal Gods Conquer America?

For most non-Teutons the idea of German rock is not very appealing. The fatherland of Bach and Beethoven may well have produced many interesting experimental groups (Kraftwerk,  Einstürzende Neubauten etc) but on a global, top 40 level it’s an entirely different matter. Consider: 

1) The Scorpions- hair metal popular in the 80s, approximately as good as Winger.

2) KMFDM- plodding industrial metal from the late 80s/early90s.

3) That Nena chick of ‘99 luftballons’ fame. 

In short, a roster of acts so unnecessary that we could safely consign them to the same dark abyss as Croatian thrash or Russian hip hop and the human race would be none the poorer for it. And yet fortunately for the glory of popular Deustche musik this is not the end of the story- for in the mid 90s what rough beast slouched towards Germany to be born? Breathing flames and reveling in death and all manner of deviancy, its name was Rammstein. 

Formed in the early 1990s by veterans of several crap East German groups, Rammstein consisted of six men in their 30s who had grown up under communism. They took their name from Ramstein, a US military base where a terrible disaster had occurred during an air show in 1988, adding an extra ‘m’ to dislocate it slightly. With the Berlin Wall fallen, the band was now liberated to steal as many sounds and ideas as they desired. These included elements of classic heavy metal, industrial metal and gothic synth pop such as Depeche Mode; not to mention liberal appropriations from Laibach, a Slovenian group fascinated by the links between mass culture, pop music and totalitarianism. (If you have a few minutes I recommend you watch Laibach’s reinterpretations of Queen’s One Vision and Opus’ Life is Life: the originals will never sound the same again.) (more…)

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Tags: Berlin Wall, germany, Hip-hop, Nena, queen
Posted Nov 7th 2009 at 6:40 am in Featured Story, Music | 25863079 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dkalder/2009/11/07/rammstein-teutonic-metal-gods-conquer-america/Rammstein%3A+Teutonic+Metal+Gods+Conquer+America%3F2009-11-07+14%3A40%3A59Daniel+Kalder