Halloweek Day 3 - Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin

After a weekend away, it seems the rising pumpkin is is a great deal further along in his approach, undeterred by Hurricane Sandy.  Speaking of Sandy, I hope all my northeast readers are safe and dry.  (Humorously, I attended a screening of National Theatre Live's "The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time," a brilliant stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's novel, which included an enthusiastic moment of naming a dog "Sandy.")

Originally, on the schedule of Halloweek reporting, today had called for a general discussion of pumpkins.  Record-holders, chunkin, impressive jack o'lanterns, that sort of thing.  However, last week my dad alerted me to an interesting news item that I find requires some reshuffling of reports.  It also requires that I fail to heed the  advice of a great hero of mine.  That's right.  Against Linus van Pelt's advice that one avoid discussions of "religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin," it's time to talk Pumpkin.
 
For those of you unfamiliar with the Great Pumpkin, he is a holiday figure created by Charles M. Schulz in the comic strip Peanuts.  Every year, according to Linus, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that it deems the most sincere to bring presents to those who are there.  The character, though never seen in the comics, was introduced in 1959, but gained wider fame when Schulz and Bill Melendez followed-up the success of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with the now-Halloween-classic, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
 
Having long been a Peanuts fan, and Linus being my favorite character, it should come as no surprise that I am a huge fan of the special, I watch it every year.  However, not everyone likes it.  Some people, I learned last week, are fundamentally opposed to it.  My dad sent me a link last week to local news coverage of a man who believes this special, now nearly fifty years old, should be retired from the air.  His argument centers on the idea that the name-calling and blatant, unpunished bullying in the film is too much for today's young viewers.
 
Perhaps it is because I am not raising young viewers of my own, as that blogger is, but I believe his critique fails to appreciate certain nuances of the special and Peanuts in general.  Yes, Charlie Brown is called a "blockhead," and other names.  His round head is used as a template for designing a pumpkin carving.  Each anonymous adult famously gives him a rock as he trick or treats in his multi-holed ghost costume.  And the blogger is correct, none of these instances is ever "punished."  No one ends up in time-out, no one gets in trouble, nothing.  But the avoidance of explicit punishment is not the same as condoning this behavior!
 
The blogger calls Charlie Brown "the hero," but this paints him with too broad a brush.  Charlie Brown is the protagonist and, in all his insecurities, doubts, and shortcomings, the character that we, as people who often face the same things, are meant to identify with.  This means that when Charlie Brown gets a rock, or gets drawn on, or gets called blockhead, we chuckle, but we also empathize.  The knowledge that the bullying we see is wrong comes from putting ourselves in Charlie Brown's shoes; seeing the world from under his multi-holed ghost costume.  And maybe that's something that younger viewers aren't able to do, but that's why this nearly fifty year old program is celebrated as a family tradition.  Parents should watch it with their children, and, if they feel further discussion is necessary, talk to them about what's going on.  Though we may have similar anxieties, we don't live in Charlie Brown's world, so parents don't need to worry; kids will hear more than just "Waaah Waaah Waaah" when they talk.
 
I could go on to discuss the merits of the Job-like suffering of Linus that comes from his faith and devotion to the Great Pumpkin, or note that Snoopy escapes his imagined World War I experience unscathed, a great feature of the adventures of the imagination.  But that one sentence nod is all I'll give as a note to the multiple levels of appreciation this special brings.  It is a true family special, one that can be enjoyed and discussed by all ages.  And that has always been the appeal of the Peanuts world.  In a universe populated entirely by children, the issues faced, conclusions reached, and jokes made are often applicable to adults, too.
 
I'd be curious to hear what readers think of this.  Am I simply defending something I love and turning a blind eye to its problems?  Do you agree with me, or do you think that it's time for the Peanuts gang to retire?  Do you believe in the Great Pumpkin?  Will you be watching the special on Halloween at 8:00 on ABC?

Tomorrow, on All Hallow's Eve Eve, assuming I don't lose power, we'll discuss what nearly every elementary schooler in the nation would agree is the best part of the holiday: Taking candy from strangers.

What We Missed

Remember the Report?  Or did you open your inbox yesterday evening and go, "Hello, what's this? Junk mail?"  We're back!  And unlike that July 31 claim that the "Report Rises," when we lasted shorter than Bane without his mask (Maybe? What would have happened there? It would have been extremely painful, I guess) this time we're back for the long haul.

What changed?  Well, in the first place, things really picked up at work, so I had to freeze production rather than rather than reduce quality.  Things are still busy at work, but I'm able to bring things back now, because this weekend, I completed my two major summer projects.  (Both in the same 24 hours.)  First, I completed my reading of all of Michael Chabon's published books.  (Eventually I'll tackle the uncollected stuff, too.)  3601 pages later, that's done, and I'm now reading his newest novel, Telegraph Avenue, albeit at a casual, leisurely pace.  I also completed the script for my children's theater play, "To the Moon," a science-fiction adventure set in 1962, featuring a circus, space pirates, and a Space Race.  For NH readers, there will be reminders forthcoming about the show's October premiere.
 
So, with those projects out of the way, I now plan on preparing the Morning Reports the night before they go out.  (It's sort of like a print report in that regard.)  This way I can keep the quality high in both my Report and my work.  But now, to business.  Specifically the business of considering what could have been.
 
It's frustrating to look back on all the time-appropriate internet findings that I've missed the window of distribution on.  No doubt you saw many of them yourselves.  But let us take this Report to focus on the Reports that Never Were:

The Olympics

How could I have missed these?  I could have offered reflections on the pomp and absurdity of the opening and closing ceremonies.  Discussed my awe at the gymnasts... Particularly at the fact that when the cameras zoom out, you remember all of a sudden that they are so very tiny.  And I would no doubt have complained about the fact that I can't link you to video without NBC kindly requesting that I never report again.  And imagine the number of time-delayed broadcast jokes I could have made about late reports.  We would have seen it in gifs discussed by number (ohmygosh #3 still).  And we would have collectively made a significant increase in the borderline NSFW links to Tom Daley.  But now the Olympics have passed, I missed my opportunity, and I can imagine the look on all your faces.

The Political Conventions

You may recall that I preface all political discussions with a notice on how I try to avoid politics on the Report, but certain items here could not have been avoided.  Well, no, really just one.  Because I could have provided in-depth discussions of these.  And these. (Some overlap, I know.)  And this. 

But now, it is all but too late.  The ship has sailed.

And now it is after Labor Day.  Summer is over.  I know, not because of the calendar, and certainly not because Starbucks insists in pressuring me into their pie-in-a-cup-and-just-as-many-calories Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I know because of the way the world felt this morning, when I left for work in a jacket without sweating through it.  As this NPR reflection on the beginning of fall discusses, it's "just a hint of a change, a certain kind of coolness and the color of the light, but you know it as soon as it hits."  And it has hit, dear reader.  To err is human, to er is autumnal: September, October, November, cider, sweater...

 

Autumn has arrived, the Report has returned, and I, Dear Readers, could not be happier.

Once Again, to Zelda

 I was thrilled to learn on Friday how many squirrel fans there are among our readership, and ice cream fans, as well.  (Also thrilled that no readers proposed a cross-over of squirrel ice cream.)  One reader provided a fantastic comic on Friday in response to Thursday's report on Maurice Sendak.  Seriously, thank you to all those who submit links and such.  I promise I'm trying to find ways to work them all in, but we have a sizable backlog that we're working with, too.

But today we're not digging into the backlog at all.  I spent this weekend traveling to New York and back to see the play "Gatz," an 8 hour marathon theater experience in which the entirety of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is read/performed on stage.  The experience is so much more than that, but it is hard to describe in any other way.  The concept is this:  A man enters his office, finds that his computer is not working, and also finds a copy of the novel at his desk.  He begins to read aloud, and over the next 8 hours, his office is transformed, coworkers become characters, and previously unrealized layers of the novel become apparent.  For example, Nick Carraway is an absolutely hilarious and snarky narrator.  Bet you didn't realize that in 10th grade American Lit!

The Public Theater also put together some great promotional material for the piece, including a variety of (some recognizable) actors, writers, and more reading both the opening and famous closing of the novel.  (Note: None of those talents appear in the production.)  Though maybe they should have focused more on merchandising for marketing... I would wear a Gatz shirt, much like this t-shirt.  (It makes me sad because I've never seen such - such beautiful shirts before.)  What a classic cover.  Though the re-design presented for Penguin Essentials is pretty cool, too.

Not sure if this show should be called an adaptation of the work or not, since it's presented in its original entirety.  Not like the Robert Redford film.  Or the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film.  And this (tragically auto-tuned, but) fantastic rap adaptation.  But as far as adaptations go, there really is none as unique as The Great Gatsby video game originally released for NES.  An incredible piece of work, right down to the (fake) backstory.  And be sure to check out the merchandise section of their page... Hilarious.

That's all for today... More cute animals and such to come later in the week to make up for this literature (and video game!!) heavy post.  Funny, though, that a Report about great writing should fall on George Lucas's birthday... Given his failure to grasp fundamentals of storytelling and good dialogue writing and all...

Til to-morrow, we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning---

White Whales and Willy Shakespeare

Happy World Book Day!

Last Friday's multicolored menagerie was very well received, with the purple polar bear and pink squirrel receiving particular attention.  Obama riding a space corgi was also a reader favorite, and has even become an iPad background.  (Told you he was loved!)  And speaking of iPads, one reader offered some fantastic puns for the Apple product fragrance.  Anyone for some iPadfume or Macologne?  They would certainly sell better than his final suggestion of "Steve Sweat."

To transition us out of last Friday's issue and into this Monday (and there is no weekday transition more difficult), we have another story of an oddly colored animal.  Scientists have spotted an adult white orca off the coast of eastern Russia.  While the evidence of its existence is nowhere near as adorable as last week's animals, it does have a name, which is super cute.  Iceberg, though, is not the most famous white whale; that title, as the article notes, belongs to Melville's Moby Dick.

Which brings us to more news of World Book Day, scheduled today (at least partially) in recognition of William Shakespeare's birthday.  This birthday celebration, in conjunction with the upcoming London Olympics, is being used to kick-off a Global Shakespeare festival.  The centerpiece of the festival includes "Globe To Globe," a series of stagings of all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in 37 different languages, including a hip-hop staging of Othello and a British Sign Language interpretation of Love's Labour's Lost!  Theater field trip to London, anyone?

That's all for now!  Stay tuned as the week goes on for continued corgi coverage (sorry, Kevin) and some dated playground equipment.  Breaking my promise of anonymity here to call Kevin out as the leader of the anti-cute animals movement.