You Asked For it, Charlie Brown!

I have to confess I was well and truly gob smacked when I awoke this morning to the horrific news that the Democrats in the United States Senate had once again folded and are prepared to capitulate to the demands of the Republicans in order to reopen the government. These are the same Republicans who had their asses handed to them in the election, not yet a week old. In the wake of this wave of national support and strength from the Democratic base and beyond, despite collective suffering, the leadership took it upon themselves to demonstrate their inherent weakness and cowardice. They were given a winning hand by the people, and they decided nonetheless to fold their cards.  

And the fig leaf they've been "promised" by a party more than willing to let hungry citizens starve and sick citizens die, by this pack of jackals, is that there will be a vote on the Affordable Care Act subsidies sometime next month. And there won't be a vote, and if there is the Democrats will lose it. Lucy's football will be snatched away yet again, and the Democrats will end up on their asses yet again, sputtering about a lack of fair play. The utter foolishness of this strategy is jaw dropping. I've already sent in my message to Chuck Shumer's office that he must step down as Minority Leader of the Senate. He has failed in his job to lead yet again, and he must be replaced by someone willing to hold the line. That most likely will require an election. Expect to see new faces in the Democratic Party as the current crop will either need to step up their game or they will be replaced. 

And don't complain when it happens, you asked for it, Charlie Brown! 

Rip Off

My Goldberry!

Goldeberry is the utterly charming wife of Tom Bombadil, the enigmatic character from J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings. Goldberry was a water nymph who has golden hair and is a radiant figure who brings peace and love to those around her. My beloved Liz was like that. Gorgeous blonde hair and a bright winning smile that drove out the gloominess which all too often inhabits my spirit. 

Seven years have passed since I lost my Lizzie -- my wife and partner, the woman I've spent most of my lifetime with, and the woman who was the caring and doting mother of our two delightful, lovely and admirable daughters. I lost her much sooner than I expected, more quickly than seemed possible. But now seven years later, the wounds have begun to close over slightly. Nonetheless I will never betray the memory of the woman I loved, and the woman I still love to this day. 

My wife is no longer here for me to talk to and to laugh with and to take care of. And she's no longer here to help take care of me as I become more and more an old man. I step into the twilight, the unknown without her wisdom and guidance and support. 

The Dojo has taken a brief hiatus around this time in years past, and so too this year in loving memory of my beloved Lizzie. Normal activity (more or less) will resume in a week's time or thereabouts. Look for more Tolkien in this month of May. 

Be well my friends and cherish the ones you have -- they are not yours to keep for all time.

Dean

The Final Chapter 2020!

Thanks to Stan and Steve for teaching many of us how to withstand life's travails. Let's see that one more time please. 

 'Nuff Said! 

Rip Off

Exitus Annus Horribilus!

That delightful image above is a photo taken for a 1954 cover shoot for Dodge News. I lead off the month with it because it just makes me happy to look at it. The image went with another similar cover shot which I examined some years ago in detail here. I do my best to identify each of the splendid vintage comics behind these lucky tyros from a bygone age. 

As the year 2020 closes out at long last, we all of us might need to take a breather. That's certainly the case for me here at the Dojo. No big themes this month, no political essays (unless something really egregious happens), and perhaps not even a regular post. I want to kick back a bit and just watch some movies, read some comics, plumb some books, and enjoy the cold clean atmosphere of a refreshed America which has shuffled off (for the time being at least) its worst aspects, though we've still got some serious pandemic work to do. But though there may not necessarily be a daily post, I will still be checking in more often than not and updating things here as the need and desire warrants but just not holding myself to a daily commitment. It seems a good time to check the cupboards and nightstands to see what's been laying about and needs some attention. Here are some things I've found already, but I make no promises. 

I'm not going away by any means (you're not that lucky and sometimes I end up posting daily anyway), merely letting off of the throttle a bit as this most demanding annus horribilus comes hopefully to a safe and steady finale. 

Rip Off 

There's No Place Like Home!

It's good to be home again. As I've mentioned, at the end of last year my ability to fully control this site evaporated overnight and in an effort to stay on point I hastily created another Dojo as a place I could spend hours obsessing over and use as a hub for my other related internet activities. The new digs had a few advantages, but as anyone who knows me will tell you, change is not something I hasten to embrace. And now on the very first official day of my retirement from decades in the classroom I am able once again to man my post here in the vast internet wilderness. And I hope that those of you who were with me at the other place will hang with me here. 

What will become of "Rip Jagger's Other Dojo" is an open question at the moment. I will at the minimum keep it as a life raft should I once again need to disembark here. But it's possible I might carve out a new distinctive role for it, playing to its strengths. More later perhaps on that.

But welcome again one and all to Rip Jagger's Dojo. Here's what I said a decade ago when I first opened this joint to the public.

I'm a blogger. Sheesh!

It's not something I thought I'd ever do, but then a decade ago this whole internets thing was a total mystery to me.

I'm a fan of comics, especially old comics, and especially old Charlton comics. I also am a ferocious fan of movies, especially old movies, and especially old monster and adventure movies.

So hopefully I'll have something worthwhile to say.

The mission has broadened some since those halcyon days, but I hope I never lose the enthusiasm I still feel resonating in that initial post.

Welcome back. Regular service will soon commence.

Rip Off

Rip Jagger's Other Dojo!

Well folks it's been swell. After a decade here at the Dojo mouthing off about comics of a Charlton nature and otherwise and offering up my unwanted opinions about the state of play in these United States, I am closing up the shop. Or rather I'm closing up this shop and opening up a new one called appropriately enough Rip Jagger's Other Dojo. (My imagination knows few bounds.)

I don't know the reasons but my ability to fully operate this blog has been compromised and despite numerous attempts to regain control I've decided to shutter the windows and start afresh.

The more I pondered the idea, the more it appealed to me. I have many traditions here which have developed over the years and not all of them are ideally useful, so I'm letting go of much of the bric-a-bac and clearing the shelves to begin anew with a fresh look.

I hope one and all feel free to join me at the new digs as 2020 looms. Go to:

RIP JAGGER'S OTHER DOJO

Or you can use the handy link in the sidebar at the top. There have been reports of it being hard to find, but hang in there.

You are most welcome to check it out.

Rip Off

It's A Madhouse!

The Dojo may be having some unusual technical issues. So if there is some delay or momentary stoppage in output, be patient amigos.

Later the next day - I'm up and running but the front page is giving me all sorts of problems. I have no idea what the issue is and can only hope it clears up sooner than later. It seems to be a problem with Blogger and not extending anywhere else, at least for now. Something alas to do with the latest update on my computer which might just be getting too long in the tooth.

Rip Off

The Ends of the Worlds As We Know Them!

Well that didn't work out like I expected. When I was a mere youth, the future was mostly settled, at least in the long term. Mankind had at long last put foot on the Moon and that new perspective was supposed to shock our collective systems and get us all to act in the common interests of the species and the world, and not in the name of nation states necessarily. Of course that's an idealistic notion and might still happen a hundred from now, but I won't live to see it. What we have had the last fifty years is more rancor both old and new, and oddly a fear of the future which has resulted in a fear of science. That gives us climate-change denial and that might be the epitaph for the species. But there have been many a poet and otherwise telling us of futures in which man and woman are not all they can be, but are held in check by the whims and raw power of the most powerful among us. And that gave rise to the dystopia, a particular form of fiction which takes a gander at the world ahead of us and says this could really be a problem. In its purest motive the dystopia is hygenic and designed to lead us away from wrong turns, but sadly like those aggravatingly fit but persistently dim teenagers in most every horror flick we keep making the same mistakes. This month at the Dojo a bunch of dystopias will be highlighted. It ain't the end of the world exactly, but you can see it from there.

Rip Off

Repose!

The Dojo is taking a little break for just a few days in the swelter of summer so that yours truly can get some necessary things done out in the real world and maybe reflect on a few projects for upcoming months here. Another hard truth is that my back bedroom full of mighty tomes is in  dire need of a wholesale organization. I have long passed the point when I cannot find something, now I cannot even effectively look for it. Change is in the offing and God herself only knows what I'll discover in those boxes. In times past when I've taken these breaks I showcase and possibly freshen some old posts, but none this time alas. If perchance you are one of those who venture into the Dojo regularly, take heart (or possibly dread) because sooner than you'd like these virtual doors will swing wide once again for business as usual.

Rip Off

Up, Up And Going Away!

Just felt a need to look on the Statue of Liberty today, and to reflect on the nation I wish to live in. The news that massive raids are contemplated and even planned for the whole of the country makes me feel fundamental sadness for my homeland. We ought not be about this, not this.

For some added value on this minimal post check out this Dojo entry featuring more than a few Statue of Liberty comic covers (including the one above) from several years back.

Rip Off

Waugh Up America!

Rarely has a moment been more propitious! Today is the day! It is time that these United States looked beyond the narrow confines of the human race for its leadership. That has alas proven to be a dead end. We need a broader spectrum of candidates from which to choose, so why not go with the one entity who got it right first, the one who saw with a clear-eyed alien perspective that we were fowling our own nest. And further one who was unafraid to speak truth to power.

What was good in '76 is even gooder in this 21st Century. Howard the Duck for President my friends! Not only could we do worse, we have.

This ad paid for by no one in order to build a stronger America.

Rip Off

The Mighty Crusade!

I can see right now that I'm going to have to follow the never ending election process with discretion. Once upon a time I can remember when reporters were somewhat ashamed to cover the "horse race" aspect of political contests because I suspect it was considered small minded and took away from the responsibility of the media to the public it supposedly serves. Well those days are far behind us as all that is covered these days is the horse race as the twin towers of Babel called MSNBC and FOX News tout their philosophies and the pols who preach them. Many decry the large number of candidates on the Democratic side of things this season and I wonder why. How can you have too many candidates as the very nature of the process will winnow those options. It's about the drama of TV, because as with the Republicans some years ago, too many candidates undermines the media's ability to cast the races in quasi-Shakespearean combats. I thought of the Archie Comics comic book cover above when I heard some pundit say there were too many Dems running for the chance to be president. Like the Mighty Crusaders they will tussle among themselves and fight and brawl and then when the dust has settle the battle for the soul of the United States will truly begin.

For your viewing pleasure, here are the other 60's Mighty Crusaders covers, a team which debuted in Fly Man before getting their own gig.

Rip Off

Chernobyl!

My daughters demanded that I sit my ass down and watch the mini-series Chernobyl. For some reason I don't really understand I was mildly reluctant, but finally they got me to do it. God almighty what did we almost do!

The saga is one of simple human failings, both on a large scale and a tiny one. Arrogance, ignorance, fear, and even love cause disease and destruction and death. When a few craven men decide to toy with the machinery of an atomic reactor for short-term gain they unleash an atomic monster with a blazing eye that man dare not stare into, because to behold the monster is to die. It remains to stalwart people to step into the breach and give themselves up to forestall the menace, if not end it. The story focuses mostly but not exclusively on three people, two physicists and one bureaucrat who must find a way to combat the monster.

I of course knew about the disaster at Chernobyl or thought that I did, but I did not know that the end of civilization as we know was nigh when the monster erupted sending emissaries of death on the winds and at the same time began to seek out the very center of the planet. I'd seen a few television shows here and there in more recent times and had some sense of how dangerous the place still was and will continue to be. But watching the story of men and women who willingly went to confront the monster knowing that death was soon to touch them on the shoulder for their courage, I was humbled.

There are five episodes of this series and if I'd have had my way, there might have been just four. But a desire to create an emotional connection to what all too often is just a rational judgment might have been worth the few more minutes, some of which were just delivering the serene quiet of the world when man is no longer admitted. The story of Chernobyl is a story of the utter ruthlessness and inane stupidity of bureaucracy but at the same time shows that same system rising up with good and true leadership to get things done that need doing.  It ain't the chain of command that's the problem in most cases, it's rotten links that nestle along that chain which make an unreliable problem solver.

If you want to stare into the abyss, watch Chernobyl. It's all still out there.

Rip Off

Sixty-Two Magoo!

Today I'm sixty-two years old.

That don't seem possible. I'm still a young man I think and feel, but my adult daughters give the lie to that quickly enough. Getting old is something the world rejects because the next step is quite startling indeed. And in the last year I have had to give in to my physical infirmity resort to bifocals...sigh. My sight has been weakening for some time, but I fended off the inevitable with ever stronger reading glasses stashed all over my home and car and classroom and anywhere I was likely to turn up.

But finally it became all too much and I had to try bifocals again (I did it once and it was a disaster) and so far so fine. I've adapted to them pretty well, but without them my Magoo existence is still one of guesswork. I used to laugh at Mister Magoo, but now alas I can only laugh alongside him.

Here are some posters of Mister Magoo doing absurd things, but sadly they no longer seem quite as outlandish as they once did.

Rip Off