The Non-Adventures of Wonderella – it’s a web comic without too many strips. And funny.
Month: December 2006
Lou Anders: The Power of Cool: Arthur Fonzarelli as Archetypal Shaman. A very interesting discussion of both the shaman archetype and the history of the Fonzie the character:
Can you imagine a Fonz whose cool isn’t strong enough to stake him out a space in a band of nerds? Surely, this can’t be the Fonz we remember? Something big must happen to transform him into the personification of cool that looms so large in our consciousness.
Well, yes, something does happen, and it fits perfectly with our guidelines for shamantic initiation. In the episode “Fearless Fonzarelli, Parts 1 and 2”, a Fonzie afraid of “losing his cool” decides to jump fourteen garbage cans on his motorcycle for the TV show “You Wanted to See It.”
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But a shamantic journey is not complete without a battle with a spirit from the Upper Realm. And so here it is – and for any of you that don’t believe me, this then is my final proof – Mork from Orc made his debut on Happy Days. In Episode 110, “My Favorite Orkan,” the space alien (i.e. Higher Spirit) Mork comes to earth with plans to abduct Richie and take him back to his planet for experiments (the Orkans want to study someone “hum-drum”).
(actually, I found that linked to in passing by someone linking to this analysis of Mary Poppins as horror).
The R.A. Maguire Cover Art gallery features lots of lovely paperback covers from the 50s and 60s, mostly in tawdry genres like crime, detective, exploitation and even science-fiction. The site also has a gallery of photos the artist took for reference to draw the covers.
The overwrought blurbs on these books are sometimes hilarious:
Perfume and Pain – She knew no desire but that for another woman.
TV Tramps – On camera they violated the Code of Decency; Off camera they violated each other.
House of Fury – A Slashing Story of Girls Behind Bars.
The Fires Within – SUBURBIA, U.S.A.; The story of a wife who loved too much… and too many
Hell’s Angels – Her life was a paradise of sex and drugs, but she died one hell of a death
But the best one has got Muscle Boy – They Got Their Kicks From Forbidden Feats of Strength