T-shirt #264 - Alfred E. Neuman Faces - Mad Magazine

T-shirt #264 - Alfred E. Neuman Faces - Mad Magazine

I am trying to restrict myself to one subject per entry. I am finding this difficult. As I discussed yesterday, I am trying to work on shorter entries last week and this week in an attempt to save time to get ahead on the blog and work on entries of greater length. So far, I have not been 100% successful at saving time this way. Hell, I have not been 10% successful. For instance, yesterday, the entry grew and grew, and the work needed to complete it in cross-referencing and researching ate up all the time I allot for writing each day, which is around 60-90 minutes, though sometimes less, depending on the day and the work load.

If you are a follower, you may have also noticed that I generally post most often in the morning. But lately, I have taken to spreading out the blog work throughout the day so as to get to work (on my actual jobs) sooner. If I let it, the blog will carry me away like the tide or pull me down like a gravity well. So I must remain diligent, disciplined, and strong. Not an easy thing to do when the blog provides such a wonderful and fun escape from WORKING. Though my jobs are not that bad and actually rather enjoyable (most of the time), it's not like I am always super motivated or excited to start working for the day. Anyway, today is one of those days to spread out work on the blog. The only way you will realize I am doing this is that the blog will be published later in the day, so if you are following via Facebook or Twitter, you won't see a notification this morning. I am not sure if anyone is watching that closely. :-)


I have discovered that the blog's readership often spikes on Sunday, which is why I try to plan entries of substance for those days, which is why I keep putting off the entry I had planned for last Sunday because it will be one of substance, but it's not so substantial yet. My point being that I would keep an eye out for Sunday posts of value. I am trying to deliver good quality all the time, but as often on Sundays as I can manage, which means working ahead, as I generally like to be lazy and have a day of R&R on Sundays because if I don't get one day of R&R per week (and one is about all I can manage with my work schedule), I become VERY VERY grouchy. And, YES, that was a damn LONG sentence, but I do think it is grammatically correct.

Also, I wanted to mention that my readership jumped to 103 hits on Sunday December Eighth. According to my stats analysis, the entry for T-shirt #241: Advice from a Volcano continues to be a top viewed item, which I find odd. I am not sure why this is the case.

All of which has very little to do with today's subject, which is Mad Magazine, and it's brand-name face, trademark, and franchise identity: Alfred E. Neuman.

This is and has been one of my favorite shirts for a very long time. I would judge the shirt to be at least ten years old if not older. I think it's a very clever joke and very much in the vein of Mad Magazine to have the back of Alfred E. Neuman's head on the front of the shirt and the front of his face on the back of the shirt. Very clever indeed, which is why I indulged in extra pictures of it. See two clothes hanger, off-body pics farther below.

I previously wrote about Mad Magazine in T-shirt #92. I had pictures taken at Fanfare with two of the people who work there, whom I count as friends. It was also the week I decided to start the Weekly Comics List feature, and so it is the first entry in that category (or the last, the oldest, if you click on the category and dial backwards).

At the time when I wrote T-shirt #92, June 21, I was soon to leave for Ann Arbor to see a concert (which I wrote about in T-shirt #112 and T-shirt #113), and intending to shop for the Mad Magazine paperbacks from the 1970s published by Signet and by Warner. In T-shirt #92, I expressed my interest in collecting all the paperbacks from this time period. You can see the extent of my collection so far displayed in pictures beside, above, and below. In addition to wanting to obtain all the Doc Savage Bantam paperbacks, I want to obtain the Mad Magazine books as well though I would prefer to find them in bookstores. I have looked in both used shoppes in Ann Arbor and the great Powell's of Portland, OR as well as local Kalamazoo shops and have found none. In today's world, the Internet (EBay especially) provides many options for acquiring what I want. Earlier this year, I bought 40-50 of the Doc Savage books this way, though I have not yet shelved these as I have not yet completed my office remodeling, which includes creating display shelves for both sets of paperbacks (the Doc Savage and these Mad Magazine books).

As for whether I will resort to Internet purchases or scour more used bookstores for what I want remains to be seen and is question I am attempting to answer for myself.

Also, as I mentioned in T-shirt #92, I continue to give Ivan a subscription to Mad Magazine simply as an excuse to get current issues in the house. Though the appeal of the brand of satire (brand Ecch) is noy as strong as it once was, I do enjoy flipping through the current issues.

Unless I buy another Mad Magazine shirt before the end of the blog year (or am given one as a gift), I am out of such shirts for now, which is all right because I do not have volumes of content to deliver about Mad Magazine.

However, before I sign off for the day, I looked up a bunch of resources via the Internet to share on the subject of Mad Magazine. You may find them interesting.

I found TWO such posts of collections of someone's idea of the ten best Mad Magazine covers of all time. Though the sets of ten overlap with some of the same, there are notable differences. I will combine these into a selection of five (no need to overwhelm) covers. Okay, I intended to do five. I did more. Keep reading.

 Enjoy.

MAD MAGAZINE RESOURCES

Mad Magazine has its own MAD TUMBLR. Who knew?

Some guy named Tom Richmond runs a daily MAD BLOG. Some people have a lot of time on their hands. A DAILY blog? Crazy. Totally insane. Where does he find the time?

Great post about Mad Magazine called What, Me Worry by Uncle John.

A very MAD collector site. The Internet has made it possible for all sorts of odd folks to come out of the woodwork and put themselves on display, like this chap at Dick's Mad Stuff. Here a mad, MAD collector, dedicates the site to another MAD MAD creator named Dick and collects all sorts of Mad Magazine ephemera in one place. Links to sites from other countries, cover sites, vital links, and many links to sites for that "Usual Gang of Idiots," the Mad creators. Great site collecting most of what is relevant with Mad Magazine on the Internet.

MAD MAGAZINE OFFICIAL SITE - duh.

One of the premiere (or top of the search results) Mad Magazine cover web sites:

Doug Gilford's MAD Cover Site

There are MANY cover sites on the Internet all collected in Dick's Mad Stuff. But this one reigned supreme at the top of the Google search.

Okay, some guy I have never heard of who has his own CNN show, though he looks like he never touched a copy of Mad Magazine in his life, though he wants you to think he's "cool enough" to have done so, Jake Tapper, did an "Inside Mad" piece for his show.

Though CNN is owned by Time Warner who also owns Mad Magazine, it's an interesting enough story.

INSIDE MAD MAGAZINE WITH JAKE TAPPER

Some quotes after the image below.

I liked this bit: "One of Mad's core reasons to exist is to question authority, because as you get older you'll realize that basically everybody has an agenda and everybody is lying to you," said longtime editor John Ficarra. "Mad really doesn't make up anything, we just sort of look at what's going on in society and say, 'Isn't this kind of weird, or stupid, or dumb?'"
and this bit: "The hope is that jokes aren't just funny, but formative. 'We feed to a counterculture, we feed to that 'question authority, they're lying to you,'" said Ficarra. "It's amazing that almost every generation has to relearn that, and Mad is there to teach it to them in some way.'"

Did you know that before MAD TV, there was a Mad TV pilot created in 1974? Neither did I. TV network executives deemed the humor "too crude for television" and it never aired. Here is a link.

The Mad Magazine TV Special 1974

And so, this brings me to my last subject: WHEN WE WENT MAD: THE KICKSTARTER.

Alan Bernstein from Royal Oak, MI is making a documentary about Mad Magazine, billed as "MAD Magazine poked fun at everything - and changed the world. A peek behind the scenes at this culture rotting institution."

Though Bernstein and company have reached their goal, they are still accepting contributions to :"make the frosting all that much sweeter." By the time you have read this, I will have kicked in my part because I want an awesome T-shirt and DVD of the movie!

COVER GALLERY
There are many sites that compile "Best of" Mad Magazine covers. Here's two top tens.

FLAVORWIRE - 10 GREATEST MAD COVERS OF ALL TIME - 2012

COMICS ALLIANCE - 10 GREATEST MAD COVERS OF ALL TIME - 2010

Let's see if I can keep my group to five. I bet I can't. And I cheated as I already have two posted above.

How about lucky thirteen? What me worry? heh.

This may not be one of the best
but I am partial to it as I own it.

I am partial to this one
as I bought it
in an attempt to get back into Mad.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR: 101 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1312.10 - 19:30

T-shirt #263 - KUDL 2009 - Red - Cotton

T-shirt #263 - KUDL 2009 - Red - Cotton

Welcome  to the follow up to yesterday's Feist post. I have written enough about KUDL and Ultimate for now, so this shirt provides me with a freebie to be able to write about whatever I want. However, in an attempt to get ahead on the post that was supposed to be yesterday's (which is not happening as I took all my time writing this one), I have to restrict myself to just a few, short subjects (or just one) or all my writing time disappears, and I still make no progress on the bigger entry that keeps getting postponed (which I didn't).

In preparing yesterday's shirt, I was going to make a top ten and a second ten (top twenty) of favourite female musicians.

Joni Mitchell balked at this categorization. She does not consider her only peers to be Carly Simon, Joan Baez, and Carole King, but rather Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, David Crosby, James Taylor, and so on. Her point is valid. Why should women artists only be compared to other WOMEN artists. Why not just compare artists and artists? Why do we feel the need to segregate?

Okay, list time. I am not segregating. I actually am mad for women musicians, and my list of male musicians would be much shorter, especially if I restrict myself to those who have worked by and large in a solo capacity: Bowie, Weller, Costello, Jackson, Donald Fagen, David Sylvian, Springsteen, Gabriel, Eno, Bryan Ferry... okay, so the list is growing rather larger than I anticipated. NEVERTHELESS, I love women artists more and want to separate them, which means I can have more in my top ten. :-)

I love female singer-songwriters WAY more than male ones, and I was going to make a list with yesterday's entry, but it was getting long, and I was off to play D&D plus I had to work on the family Christmas shopping. AND I lost the list I made on my tablet the other night, but I think I can recreate it easily.

My criteria for this list is restricted to women artists who have worked primarily or exclusively on a solo basis. I also have a criterion based on those whose work I have listened to the most often, and so those with some longevity are higher on the list than newer artists. Though I like some new artists, if I don't have enough of their work, or they have not been around long enough, then they will not make the list. One artist, Lisa Gerard, I adore, but since she has mostly worked with Dead Can Dance, she does not make the list despite her solo work. I also adore Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins and Beth Gibbons of Portishead. Though the latter has some solo work, the former has none and so does not make the list.



The lists are not strictly ranked. I could easily claim Kate Bush as number two or three. Sade is probably over Erykah Badu as I have listened to her for more years. I had to put Katie Melua on the list because her cover of "Just Like Heaven" is THE SONG for my wife and me and our crazy love affair. It was played at our wedding. I think Katie Melua is GREAT, but I might not have put her in the top twenty over artists that I have loved for more years, like AIMEE MANN, Sarah McLachlan, Neko Case, ALANIS Morissette, or Fiona Apple.

LIST OF FAVORITE WOMEN SINGER-SONGWRITERS

1. Joni Mitchell
2. Rickie Lee Jones
3. Erykah Badu
4. Kate Bush
5. Suzanne Vega 
6. Tracey Thorn
7. Beth Orton
8. Sade
9. Ani DiFranco
10. Annie Lennox

SECOND TEN

11. Lori Carson
12. Laurie Anderson
13. Bjork
14. Tori Amos
15. Jane Siberry
16. Katie Melua
17. Sinead O'Connor
18. M.I.A.
19. Enya
20. Feist

Notable Omissions: ST. VINCENT a recent new love almost made this list. Patti Smith (love her, but I consider her work with the Patti Smith Group as best); Natalie Merchant (ditto, I adore her but her best work was with the 10,000 Maniacs); Edith Piaf (a fantastic singer but has not been one I have listened to over the course of my life as much); Same deal as Piaf for Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Laura Nyro, etc.; Fiona Apple (close but no cigar). Also all close but no cigar due to too few albums or not enough listens: Gillian Welch, Dingding Sa, Emmylou Harris, Carole King, Goldfrapp, Beth Nielsen Chapman, India.Arie, Jenny Lewis, Alanis Morissette, Kate Rusby, Katell Keineg, Lois, KD Lang, Kasey Musgraves, Kimya Dawson, Kirsty MacColl, Duffy, Kristin Hersh, Lana Del Rey. And so many more. Stopping now. This is getting crazy. Okay, I have to mention Mary J. Blige, Mikki Howard, and Nina Simone. Whew.

I am pretty happy with these lists. There was a time that I listened to Laurie Anderson all the time (and I have named her as a guest at my fantasy Dinner Party), but she lost her top ten ranking when I realized that I had left off Suzanne Vega, which is crazy given my lengthy love letter to her in T-shirt #78. Also, as much as I love her, it's a tough call between Bjork and artists like Sinead O'Connor and Sarah McLachlan. I simply chose to rank Bjork in the top twenty because of a dream I had recently in which she was at my fantasy Dinner Party, chatting with me and Laurie Anderson.

VIDEOS of top five FAVORITES (skipping two)

Okay, more indulgence. I know I have posted music videos both of the last two days. But it's time for some more. Just five here, assuming I can find them. A good sampler to start your Monday. I could go strictly top five, but since I already have posts on two of the artists in the top five -- Suzanne Vega in T-shirt #78 and Erykah Badu in T-shirt #86 -- I am skipping them. Go to those links for videos. Here's videos from the top five skipping those two, with favorite songs by Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Kate Bush, Tracey Thorn, and Beth Orton. Here we go...

Close call on the Joni song. I adore "Coyote." But if I think back on the song that nailed it for me, what made me fall in love with Joni, it's this one. Mingus was the first Joni album I ever owned. This is possibly the first Joni song I really listened to in any kind of close and studied way.

Joni Mitchell - God Must Be A Boogie Man (Live London 1983)

Tough call with the Rickie song, too. I could go with so many, though not "Chuck E's in Love." The album that really cemented my love for Rickie was The Magazine. I remember going to a party at my friend Evar Strid's apartment. He had just bought the album. I sat down and listened to the whole thing and read the lyrics and would not speak to anyone until I was done. I would feature the whole album if I thought anyone would listen to it. Unfortunately, there is not a YouTube video for my favorite song on that album, "The Runaround," in which Rickie sings the line "Juke Box Fury" in a great way. The song titled after that lyric is a good second choice.

Rickie Lee Jones Juke box fury

My wife is a great lover of Kate Bush, which is one thing we share in common, though mostly she prefers Hounds of Love and The Dreaming. If you dial back to my post for T-shirt #97 and my list of my most listened to albums, you will find The Dreaming and The Magazine in the top tier remainder, not officially in the top ten or second top ten, but above the "second tier." I should have put Joni Mitchell's Mingus with that top tier remainder, as I listened to that album a lot and fell in love with her for its lead song, "God Must be a Boogie Man." In fact, I am going back to edit that entry right now! But for Kate, I have to go with the song that cuts me the deepest rather than one of the songs from The Dreaming, which is my favorite album.

Kate Bush - This Woman's Work

Tracey Thorn is in that top tier of the aforementioned list in T-shirt #97. She is second in the second ten. I wrote about EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL in T-shirt #163, but the album lately that has been on constant repeat for me is her solo work Out of the Woods. Amazing. Also, this is a great video representation with some time lapse photography.

Tracey Thorn -- Hands Up To The Ceiling

Lastly, Beth Orton. I discovered Beth Orton on the recommendation of a review in Details magazine, mainly because William Orbit, who was someone I admired and liked,  had produced her first album Trailer Park. She became an instant favorite, and I have seen her a few times in concert. Once, at Irving Place in New York City, she came in for the show through the audience, shaking hands and giving hugs, with her pink dress in a garment bag over her shoulder. You're so cool, Beth!! 

It was one song on her second album Central Reservation that became an anthem for me. Here it is.

Beth Orton - Feel To Believe (Live @ Union Chapel, London, 05.12.12)

As a final thought for the day, that song is pretty kick ass.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 102 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1312.09 - 12:09

T-shirt #262 - Feist

T-shirt #262 - Feist

I have been trying not to repeat types of shirts, subject matter, two days in a row. This is difficult to do with the sheer number of comic book shirts I own. But I am resorting to another music shirt, a second day in a row, because I am putting off the entry I had planned for today as I am not done writing it yet. I have been planning this entry since JULY, so it's a long time in the making. I want it to be good. And it's not ready.

Also, given the girth of the entire I had planned for today, I did not think I could sneak in more comic book content, which I plan to do.

What's interesting is that this may be the first time period in which I featured three music shirts within seven days of each other. Okay, I quick revealed that this is not totally true. But it is unusual for me to feature music three time in seven days. I tend to spread out my music more often.

I wanted a quickie when I decided to run forward with the entry I had planned. I do not have much to say about Feist that cannot be carried by a handful of videos I will share.

I have actually seen Feist twice in concert, once at the Filmore in Detroit, when she actually had to tell the audience to shush, which is something I had seen Natalie Merchant do as she started to play "Verdi Cries" in concert. The other time I saw Feist was at the Michigan Theatre, which was a much better show as it was not like she was playing in a large bar with a stage in it. Everyone was seated and ready to listen to her concert.

I discovered Feist in one of those happy accidents of serendipity. I was at an event for the People's Food Co-op and the facilitator was playing her music. I asked what that divine sound was and thus I discovered Feist, glorious Leslie Feist.

FEIST WIKI

Speaking for myself, there is a hypnotic effect to listening to Feist, which makes it easy to listen over and over. I like that her music is classified as "Baroque Pop."

For those who don't know, Feist had fronted an indie band called Broken Social Scene. She is from Canada.

Feist also performed in The Muppets, the movie with Jaosn Segel and Amy Adams, which is awesome if only by itself.

I wrote much of this text yesterday, Saturday. I just returned home from playing a Pathfinder (D&D) adventure of WE BE GOBLINS in which I was Chuffy Lickwound seen in the picture below. Very fun. We killed lots of things, the biggest of which was a spellcasting Ogre.

Here's my character sheet and my goblin miniature painted ans gifted for me by Randall Davis. Thanks Randall!!

"Chuffy's face may make you sick,
But Chuffy's knife is awful quick!"

I do like to share pages from my ticket book. So here's one such page.













I had to return to Fanfare Saturday as some of the comics for 1312.04 did not come in until the next day, and this was my first opportunity to return.

So here's my updated list from this week's comics with the new comics in bold. Plus there were two special purchases as noted.

Since I had already read the first four comics in the list, obviously, these cannot be ranked among the top four. Only the X-Men comic had a shot to rank high, and at best, I would have ranked it fourth. I will rank it fifth, so that it's my next read.

COMICS FOR 1312.04

Inhumanity #001
Velvet #2
Green Arrow #26
Guardians of the Galaxy #009
Amazing X-Men #002
The Superior Spider-Man #023
Young Avengers #013
Iron Man #019
Action Comics: Superman #26
Daredevil: Dark Knights #007
Fearless Defenders #012
Batman: Detective Comics #26
Earth Two #18
Green Lantern #26
Secret Avengers  #012
Indestructible Hulk Annual  #001
The Amazing Spider-Man #700.1

BACK LOG

Great Pacific #12
Fairest #21
Cataclysm: The Ultimates Last Stand  #002
God is Dead #4
Trillium #5

SPECIAL PURCHASES

East of West - volume one

Mister Miracle T-shirt (another preview of a future shirt, and I learned some fun facts about Jim Steranko related to this character).

FEIST VIDEOS

Enjoy a boon of Feist goodness for your Sunday evening. I strongly recommend that if you have never listened to Feist that you check out these videos. If you do know Feist's music, you will enjoy these videos even more.

Feist - The Bad In Each Other

Feist - I Feel It All

Feist - Graveyard

Feist - Gatekeeper (Live At The Rehersal Hall)

Feist - Sea Lion Woman

Feist - 1234

Feist Let It Die Live Montreal 2012 HD 1080P

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 103 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1312.08 - 19:16

T-shirt #261: Ramones

T-shirt #261: Ramones

I have never really been a huge fan of the Ramones, and yet I own a shirt. It's a relatively recent purchase, within the last ten years, and the shirt has not been worn that often. Note that I am linking many of these subjects for your convenience and edification if you so desire. Also, for my later reading, as I reread my own blogs. Go figure.

I bought it at the same time as I bought the CBGB shirt that I featured when I said goodbye to Lou Reed in T-shirt #231, which is fitting as the Ramones played their first gig at CBGB in 1974.

I wish I could remember the bands I saw in the show I went to at CBGB in 1985, but these facts are lost in time.

I like punk music, but I never considered myself a punk or a punk rocker. However, in the 1980s, I did go to a lot of punk shows in Kalamazoo, more because of the scene than the music. Black Flag, a local band called the T-Snakes. All sorts. I hit a few shows in Ann Arbor, too, though I hardly remember. I played the Ramones at college dances and in my radio show, but I did not own any Ramones albums. In fact, I may like the Harmones, a Kalamazoo College Ramones inspired  band named for their dorm, Harmon.

I do think the Ramones are a good band, but they were never among my favorites. I think their stuff is fun and a great portrait of the time period. I own much of it. I do not listen to it very often of my own choice, but my step-son Ivan plays it for me on occasion so I keep tunes on my iPod.

Punk is punk. I do not enjoy debating which came first American punk via the Ramones or British punk via the Sex Pistols.

All of my favorite punk songs--if they can be considered "punk" and I don't think they can be--are by the Clash and the Jam. The former I wrote about recently in T-shirt #238. The latter I have not written about yet as I am saving my shirt featuring the Jam for a time when I can really devote myself to what is probably my favorite band and certainly in my top five as also mentioned in T-shirt #238.

I do like what is considered Post-Punk possibly more than punk itself. Bands like Gang of Four, Killing Joke, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and especially Cabaret Voltaire are among my favorites, but they are considered post-punk. I also liked the New Wave bands, such as DEVO, XTC, Blondie, Ultravox, Gary Numan's TubeWay Army, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, and most especially Talking Heads.

But this is about punk and the Ramones. And I meant to let the music speak for itself.

This is meant to be a quickie.

I wish to present my five favorite punk songs that are not by the Clash or the Jam. And, hey, guess what. There's a Ramones song. Okay, I am lying. These are not my favorites so much as the first five that spring to mind. Or is this the same thing? If the songs spring to mind, then must they be my favorites?

In any case, enjoy the exploration of my top five punk songs.

Suicidal Tendencies - "Institutionalized" Frontier Records

The Ramones - I wanna be sedated (Official Video - HQ)

The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck

Dead Kennedys - Kill the poor

Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK 1976

Misfits - Astro Zombies live

I could not embed the video for the next one, and though it's from a later period, more grunge, it's true punk in its aesthetic and I love it.

Sleater Kinney - More Than a Feeling

Okay, I lied, that's seven. I couldn't keep it to five and even with two extra I am leaving out some great bands. Still, this is a good sampling.

Now, more true than ever, "I wanna be sedated."

Also, as mentioned in the first video: "All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't bring it to me..."

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR: 104 shirts remaining

-chris tower - 1312.07 - 9:34