Comic Strips Survey from Father's Day Roanoke Times: We Like This Week's Doonesbury

Greetings to our blog readers in Dubai, Bulgaria, and Indonesia.......

A lot has happened since we last tweeted one week ago today: 1) There was a mass shooting that resulted in the deaths of nine African-Americans in Charleston, South Carolina, here in America, sparking a national debate between guns and racism. 2) President Barack Obama surprised the world by sitting down for an interview with edgy comic podcast host Marc Maron in Los Angeles. 3) And, Muslims around the world started celebrating Ramadan, which according to the Turkish English-language newspaper "The Daily Sabah" is quite challenging in Iceland where there is 18-22 hours of daylight per day. There are about 770 Muslims residing in Iceland, and adjustments have been suggested for the holiday period's fasting period.

Our images for the week are of: 1) The Jetsons family as "Doonesbury" tackles how fathers are adjusting to modern parenting; 2) Since "Dilbert" features a character who looks just like Turkish shadow puppet Karagoz (center image, the dude with the long beard and a drum; Hacivat is his frenemy; 3) Doctor Who for "Pearls Before Swine" which features a British alien (not in the E.T. sense)

Here are our ten favorite comic strips from Sunday's "Roanoke Times":

1) Doonesbury

2) Get Fuzzy

3) Dilbert

4) Pearls Before Swine

5) Zits

6) Jump Start

7) Non Sequitur

8) Agnes

9) Mutts

10) Speed Bump (this comic strip was number one for four weeks in a row!, but not this week).....

http://www.gocomics.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.denverpost.com/comics

Happy 50th Anniversary to "The Jetsons"

The animate, universally-loved space-age cartoon sitcom "The Jetsons" debuted 50 years ago yesterday on Sept. 23, 1962. Since the show is set in 2062, in a world of flying cars and robotic house servants, it is now half-way to the time it was set in.

There is one member of the voice cast who is still alive as Janet Waldo who voiced the teenage Judy Jetson is alive in her late '80s. Penny Singleton (1908-2003), who voiced her mother Jane Jetson lived to be 95. Singleton also played the comic strip character Blondie on film.

It's hard to believe that in real time Elroy would be 60 and his sister Judy would be 66; perhaps they would be members of the AARP.

For more info about "The Jetsons," go to our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time:"

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.cybercomm.nl/~ivo/

http://www.aarp.org

Olympic Cities Distance Quiz (1 of 6)-Paris to Sydney

Today, we begin our much-planned project involving the distances between cities which have hosted the Olympic Games. We were stunned to learned that it has been a very long time since Paris, France, a city that also hosted the second summer Olympics in 1900, has hosted the Olympics. In fact, the last time was in 1924, when the American Olympic delegation sent 288 athletes, including Frank Kriz (1894-1970) won won gold on vault in men's gymnastics.

Sydney, Australia, hosted the games just one time_in 2000, though Melbourne hosted the Olympics (equestrian events were held quite far away in Stockholm, Sweden, that year) in 1956.

For those games, the American Olympic team consisted of 586 athletes, including Nick Hysong, now age 40, who won gold in men's pole vault, a track and field event. Hysong was actually born just one year after Kriz died (the men's gymnast died in 1970; Hysong was born in Dec. of 1971).

Now, we are going to ask those of you checking from Dubai to Denver how far a part these two cities are. Is the answer?:

A) 10,510 miles

B) 10, 530 miles

C) 10,550 miles

D) 10, 570 miles

One can fly a number of airlines to get to this route including (we presume): Malaysian Airlines, Quantas Airlines and Air France.

http://malaysianairlines.com

http://www.airfrance.com

http://www.quantas.com.au

SIDEBAR: The answer to our quiz on "The Jetsons" is A) 1962. The show was set in 2062, 100 years into the future. The cartoon is thus celebratings its 50th anniversary.

The Rabbit-Ears Quiz (10 of 12)-The Jetsons

Today, we continue our Rabbit's Ear Quiz with a look at "The Jetsons," the highly popular American cartoon which did not actually air in the 1970s, when I watched the show as a child. I also saw the show in Turkey on the TRT (Turkish Radio Television) and it was called "Jetgiller."

The show has 75 episodes in syndication even though its initial run was a surprisingly short one. The show takes place in the 2062, and it featured many unique characters.

These included George Jetson, 34 (that's his age according to Wikipedia, which actually makes him a bit too young to have a teenage daughter). George was actually voiced by an actor named George as Geogrge O"Hanlon (1912-1989), an actor who played a supporting character on "I Love Lucy" provided the voice for the space-age dad.

Jane Jetson, 33, was voiced by Penny Singleton (1908-2005) who played the comic strip character Blondie on film and television. Other characters included the nightmare boss Cosmo Spacely, owner of Spacely Sprockets, who was voiced by the great Mel Blanc (1908-1989) who was the voice of lots of Looney Tunes characters, including Bugs Bunny.

The Jetson kids included Elroy, age 6 and a half, and Judy, age 16. Janet Waldo, now age 88, voiced Judy Jetson and she is the only surviving member of the cast. Elroy Jetson was voiced by another cartoon voice legend Daws Butler (1916-1988) who also provided the voice for Huckleberry Hound.

And, lastly, there was Rosie the Robot and Astro the Dog, (pictured here).

Today, we ask just which year did "The Jetsons" debut on ABC?

Was it:

A) 1962

B) 1963

C) 1964

D) 1965

Thanks to those of you visiting us from Dubai, of all places, today. 

Highlights From My Things to Improve My Life List

Relationships. Career Networking. Proper Diet and Exercise. How to get along with your Spacely Sprockets boss*. Let's face it, self-help books are very trendy even if more and more people are reading "War and Peace" via Kindle now.

And, since I've already wasted some precious time on this Saturday night by watching a Jewish satire of "Dexter," a 'Star Trek' opera sequence and a cello/orchestra take on the kitschy '80s hard rock anthem "The Final Countdown" as performed in Kipsala, Latvia, on Youtube, posting portions of a list seems like a simpler way to post today's blog entry.

There are actually 24 things on the whole list; I've decided to divide them up into 12 items for my two blogs.

Here is the first part of the list:

1. Get a girlfriend

2. Write second draft of novel you've been kinda/sorta working on since March.

3. Exercise/join a gym/anything but power yoga

4. Move out of current zip code of residence (yes, that's why the U-Haul truck is pictured above)

5. Take more photographs, especially of old things

6. Write some more poems; Nikki Giovanni had to start somewhere

7. Write second draft of memoir that was typed up last year, after all it might not get published for 24 years when mom will be 95.

8. Put photographs up on Facebook

9. Be more organised (we're using the British spelling to get more hits from the UK).

10. Listen to more vinyl; we should find a copy of "Some Girls" by The Rolling Stones.

11. Write a full-length play; anything has to be better than the failed soap opera satire I wrote three years ago.

12. Learn how to socially network via the Internet.

*-Demanding boss in the 1960s cartoon "The Jetsons"

Quote of the Week- Arthur Miller

Those of you who just read my last entry about my Facebook page being hijacked by a cyber-pirate might be wondering if this is really Spacely Sprocket from Dayton, Ohio, and I want to assure that is indeed me and I have a memo to fire George Jetson.

In all seriousness, we are going to blog a bit to take our mind off things even though the girl I like is probably meeting a guy from Slovenia through an E-Harmony rip-of site as we speak.

Our Quote of the Week is the late, great playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005) who left us with some great quips.

His most famous play "Death of a Salesman" will be in production at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in Milwaukee,Wisconsin, from April 12-May 8, 2011. The theatre is now performing "Cabaret," and, of course, Miller never wrote musicals!

The Eclipse Theatre Company in Chicago is currently performing a much lesser-known Miller drama "A Memory of Two Mondays." Tickets can be purcahsed by calling 773-325-9655.

Here is the quote from Miller:

"I think it's a mistake to ever look for hope outside one's self."

Here is