New York animation producer Mike Sporn has posted some fun photos from 1976 when we all worked on the musical the Adventures of Raggedy Ann & Andy. It was fun to see myself once more with dark hair, and a 32" waistline! Check it out. http://michaelspornanimation.com

I had a fun time in San Diego at the SCCS Southern California Cartoonists Society. Cartoonist like Gregg Evans (Luann)Joe Schmidt, Bat Lash ( Supernatural Law) and Jacky Estrada, Karyl Miller (writer on the Cosby Show) made me feel welcome and we had a nice evening swapping stories of ToonTown. It was interesitng to stay near the convention center without a Comicon going on. No waiting at the bar and always a parking space in the garage. The SCCS website is http://www.sccs-online.com

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Birthdays: Saint Augustine 354 AD,Robert Louis Stephenson, Edwin Booth, Oskar Werner, Jean Seberg, Whoopi Goldberg- real name Karen Johnson, Erte', Jack Elam, Alexander Scourby, Eugene Ionesco, Garry Marshall,Joe Mantegna,

In Ancient Rome, today was Epulium Jovis, or the Feast of Jupiter Reclining.

1842- Lewis Carroll noted in his diary today:" Began writing the fairy tale of Alice. Hope to be done by Christmas.." His real name was Charles Dodgson, The Oxford mathematics don invented the nom de plume as a fictional Renaissance writer Ludovicus Carolus, or Lewis Carroll.

1868- Giacomo Rossini died at 68. He retired at 31 from active life and lived on royalties. It was said he became so lazy he laid about in bed all day. One day when writing a concerto his score dropped to the floor as he leaned over to fill his glass. Rather than bend down to pick it up he took a fresh sheet and wrote a sonata.

1874 -At the sesquicentennial celebrations of the University of Pennsylvania Robert Green invented the Ice Cream Soda.

1914- Clothing designer Carez Crosby took two handkerchiefs and some ribbon off some baby bonnets and invented the Brassiere.

1921- Premiere of the silent classic "The Sheik" introducing young actor Rudolph Valentino. Valentino’s wife Alla Nazimova made sure his image was pure male sex appeal. " Rudy looks best when he’s naked."

1940- Walt Disney's 'Fantasia' opened. as Walt put it, "this'll make Beethoven!" Frank Lloyd Wright's opinion was 'I love the visuals, but why did you use all that old music?"
Walt going over boards with Stokowski and Deems Taylor.

1953- An Indiana Judge ordered his local school district to remove any school books with references to the character Robin Hood. All the "take from the rich and give to the poor" it was obvious to the judge that the medieval rogue of Sherwood Forest was a Communist.

1971- ABC TV. movie "the Duel" premiered. It starred Dennis Weaver as a hapless motorist on a lonely freeway menaced by an unseen truck driver . The film first brought fame to a young director named Steven Speilberg.

1978- Mickey Mouse gets his star on Hollywood Blvd.

1986- John Huston and Woody Allen denounced the fad of computer colorizing classic Black & White films like the Maltese Falcon. Supposedly one of the last things Orson Welles said on his deathbed was "Keep Ted Turner and his crayons away from my movies!"

1991- Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast opened, the first animated film ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.