Lately some good friends are being heaped with glory, so I thought I'd add my personal paeans of triumph!

Congratulations to Karl Cohen of ASIFA/ San Francisco for being given the ASIFA/Laureate Award at the Ottawa Animation Festival!



Karl said he had fun hanging out on the Rideau Canal with John Canemaker, Dick Williams, Jerry Beck and Linda Simensky.

My old boss Dick Williams was honored at the Ottawa Festival and later will go to New York and be the subject of a evening in his honor at the Museum of Modern Art!

Well Done, Mr Egg & Chips!

Gloria en Excelsis, Vivat, Slava, Mazeltov and all that kinda stuff!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Quiz: Some political writers are called pundits. What is a pundit?

Yesterday’s Question Answered Below: Animation fans, Who was Arthur Q. Bryant?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
History for 9/23/2008
Birthdays: Euripides-484BC, early feminist Victoria Woodhull, Walter Lippmann, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Mickey Rooney is 88, Julio Inglesias, Bruce Springsteen, Walter Pidgeon, Louise Nevelson, Jason Alexander, Mary Kay Place, Harry Connick Jr.

480BC- On this same day in 480 BC- Glycon of Syracuse defeated the huge Carthaginian host of Hamilcar and saved Sicily for Greece. Hamilcar spent the battle burning up animal sacrifices to the Gods for good omens. When he saw he was losing Hamilcar threw himself on the fire. Not a bad solution because Carthage’s tradition was to crucify generals who lost battles.

1642- The first commencement ceremony at Harvard College.

1779- "I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT !" Captain John Paul Jones on the U.S.S. BonHomme Richard defeated the larger British H.M.S. Serapis in an epic sea duel off Cape Falmouth, England. The two ships grappled each other side by side, pounded away with heavy cannon and fought hand-to-hand. The ships were so close that men could jump through the gun portals from one ship to another. At one point Bonhomme Richard was burning from stem to stern, sinking and all her guns out of action. But John Paul Jones refused to give up. The American crew thought their pint-sized Scots captain had lost his reason. When gunnery Ensign Grubb tried to haul down the Stars & Stripes, Jones knocked him down with a pistol butt. English Captain Pearson overheard Jones arguing with his officers and called aloud "Sir, do you strike your colors, sir?" That’s when John Paul Jones shouted his famous retort: "I have not yet begun to fight!"
To make matters worse, the other American ship in the area, the USS Alliance, was manned by a jealous captain named Launnay. He ordered a broadside fired into Jone's ship! Launnay hoped that by helping kill Jones, he could then finish off the Briton and take all the credit for the victory. Despite this curious strategy, John Paul Jones kept fighting. He personally ran over to a ten pounder cannon whose crew had been killed, and fired it himself, bringing down the Serapis’ mainmast.
Finally it was English Captain Pearson who gave up. The Bon Homme was so shot to pieces it sank, so the victors had to ride home on the Serapis. The point of the battle was trying to raid a British merchant convoy, and the convoy got away, but the symbolic victory to Americans and French was significant. John Paul Jones became a legend on the English Channel.
In 2002 the wreck of the Bonhomme Richard was discovered 7 miles off the English coast and is being explored.

1780-"TREASON MOST FOUL !" General Benedict Arnold, fed up with being ignored for promotion by the American high command, planned to change sides by betraying West Point to the British. This was the huge American fortress that would give Britain control of the Hudson River and split the rebellious colonies in half. Major John Andre' of British intelligence had a meeting with Arnold and was passing back through the lines when he was apprehended by some Yankee militia. Because Andre was out of uniform he was hanged as a spy. This morning Benedict Arnold found out Andre had been arrested and the jig was up. And to make matters worse,General George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Lafayette were riding over for breakfast !
Benedict Arnold escaped to the HMS Vulture waiting down river, while his wife Peggy stalled Gen. Washington and party in their parlor. When Washington learned of Arnold's treason and freaked, Peggy feigned a fit of hysterics. Disheveled, with her baby at her breast she shrieked to the horrified Washington :"They're putting hot irons in my Head!". She was put to bed and later slipped away to safety. It wasn't known until 1930 when British Army Intelligence documents were made public, that loyalist Peggy Arnold was not only part of the scheme, but had been the chief inspiration of Arnold's changing sides. When Peggy died in London of old age, a locket containing the picture of Major Andre was found around her neck.

1908- NY Giants batter Fred Merkle hit the winning run in a pennant game with the Chicago Cubs. But in running the bases he neglected to touch second base so his run was disallowed and the game was declared a tie. They replayed the game the following day and the Cubs won the pennant. Thereafter Merkle's nickname became Bonehead Merkle.

1921- The Band-Aid self adhesive bandage introduced. A scientist at Johnson &Johnson invented it for his wife who kept cutting herself in the kitchen. Supposedly the skin tone color, which doesn't seem to match anybodies skin, was her skin coloring.

1933- At a dedication ceremony Adolf Hitler broke ground for the construction of Germany’s Autobahn system- 1400 miles of modern freeway. One story says Hitler himself conceived the idea since he was a lifelong auto enthusiast. But that is untrue. German designers as early as 1913 were inventing the road features common to today’s motorists- the Blending Lane and Clover Leaf, Fast Lanes and meridian divided roads.

1939- At the World’s Fair in New York a time capsule was buried not to be opened until the year 6939. It contains a Bible, a mail order catalog and newsreels of President Franklin Roosevelt.

1952- The "CHECKERS" SPEECH- Young Senator Richard Nixon saved his career as Eisenhower's running mate by going on nationwide T.V. and explaining away allegations of accepting improper gifts while a congressman. Included is a dog "checkers" for his kids. "He’s a good dog, and we’re gonna keep him.""My wife doesn't own a mink coat, she has a good Republican cloth-coat." Eisenhower was close to dumping the embattled senator from the ticket but the popular outcry of support after this speech but Nixon back on top. In effect he four-walled Ike into keeping him on the ticket. When Eisenhower was asked in 1960 "Can you name one thing Vice President Nixon did for your administration?" Ike glibly replied:" Boys, gimme a week to think of something and I'll get back to you."

1962- H& B's show The Jetsons' premiered. It was the first ABC show to be presented in color. Jane! Stop this Crazy Thing! Jane!

1964- Marc Chagalls’ paintings on the ceiling of the Paris Opera House unveiled.

1969- the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" premiered. Written by William Goldman and directed by George Roy Hill. It made fortunes for stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who later started and independent film festival called Sundance. And Paul Newman started making salad dressing.

1984-Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Frank Wells met the Disney Animation Dept. and are pitched storyboards for the film Basil of Baker Street, later called the Great Mouse Detective. Eisner dictates memos to start the television animation division. Up to now their thinking had been to dismantle the animation department and earn income from the licensees of the existing library. Roy Disney was instrumental in insisting the animation division remain. Until it’s dismantling in 2002 it had been the chief money generator of the Disney corporation for years.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday’s Question: Animation fans, Who was Arthur Q. Bryant?

Answer: " I'm hunting wabbitts! Huh-huh,huh huhh." Bryant was the original voice of Elmer Fudd. He was also a regular on the hit radio show, Fibber McGee and Molly.