Michael Lieberman

Sarah Palin’s Comic Appearance

In the early 1950's comic books were a big issue in Washington. Many believed that comic books were corrupting our youth by contributing to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency.How widespread was it? In 1954 there were Congressional hearings on the issue and the resulting Comics Code was the death knell for many popular comics. It was censorship at its finest.Words like"crime", "horror" and "terror" were know forbidden in comic book titles Also a no no was any mention of "vampires", "werewolves"and "zombies.""Tales from the Crypt" was a casualty of this madness.16 months ago, after a 53 year hiatus, a new issue...

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The Literary Side of "Love and Death"

"I recall my first mystical vision. I was walking through the woods thinking about Christ. If he was a carpenter I wondered what he charged for bookshelves." - BorisFrom Woody Allen's 1975 film Love and Death; Allen's hysterical cinematic parody of Russian literature.Other literary tidbits from the film include:-"This is crazy I can't shoot a gun I was meant to write poetry" - Boris-there is a scene between Boris and his father where the entire dialogue between consists of allusions or direct references to Dostoevsky titles.-at one point during his brief stint as a poet Boris says while reading from...

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Tim Burton Enters Wonderland

José de Creeft's sculpture of Alice and friends in Central Park. Commissioned by the publisher George Delacorte as a tribute to his late wife Margarita, and as a gift to the children of New York City. Unveiled in 1959.Shooting has begun for Tim Burton's next film, an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times blog Hero Complex caught up with Burton on the set to discuss "Alice" and more."It appears his mission is to reclaim a children's classic, resharpen its edges and remind everyone that sapping the weirdness out of a...

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Getting to Know Charles Bukowski

Jennifer Makowsky never really read or knew much about Charles Bukowski "apart from the poems [she] read in school and his reputation as the hardened “dirty old man.”  She felt that the time had come to learn more about the "The Poet Laureate of Skid Row."To begin her descent into Bukland she takes to the screen to watch John Dullaghan’s 2003 documentary, Bukowski: Born Into This.Her review, "Bukowski: What Lies Beneath," appears over at Pop Matters. Here is the trailer for the film:Bukowski  at WikipediaMuch more at bukowski.net

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Street Signs

Marji King and Bruce Daniels have amassed a collection of over 100 handmade cardboard signs that they have used to panhandle on the streets of Seattle. For the last two weeks they have been setting up the display at various downtown locations."People tend to walk by and ignore one sign," Bruce says, "but can they ignore more than 100?"Here are some highlights:Fear change? Leave it here.Lost my rose-tinted glasses; Need money for new ones.If money is the root of all evil let me carry the burden."Aliens kidnapped my parents. $ for space fuel."Donations for the Church of Malt Liquor.Begging Sucks...

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