Remembering Eartha Kitt

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Eartha Kitt, the multi-talented, singer, actress and author has died at the age of 81 from colon cancer. Her career spanned sixty years and made her an international star.

Born to poor parents [a mother of African-American/Cherokee heritage and a white father] in 1927, Eartha was sent to live with relatives when her mother’s new husband refused to have a mixed child in the house. Eartha’s big break came in 1946 when she auditioned and won a spot as a dancer with the Dunham dance group. This in turn led to work on Broadway and later a Paris nightclub where she was spotted by Orson Welles who called her the “most exciting woman in the world” and cast her in his Paris stage production of “Faust.”

From there her career really took off with a recording contract [Eartha could sing in several languages] and songs such as “I Want to be Evil” and the classic “Santa, Baby.” At a time when women of color were often seen on television as maids and secretaries, Ms. Kitt had a reoccurring role as the sexy Catwoman on the popular tv series Batman.

In 1968, her career in the US came to a screeching halt. Ms. Kitt, along with several other important ladies of the time had been invited to a luncheon at the White House hosted by President Johnson’s wife. They were there to discuss youth crime. Ms. Kitt brought up the Viet Nam war and the unrest it was causing among young people, and Mrs. Johnson took offense. The incident made the papers and suddenly Ms. Kitt found herself blacklisted. So she went overseas where she continued to perform until her return to Broadway in 1974. Jimmy Carter invited her back to the White House in 1978. In 2006, President Bush had her back once again, this time to light the National Christmas tree. Ms. Kitt never retired. She is one of the few entertainers to earn nominations for Emmy, [she won two and was nominated for three], Grammy [nominated twice] and Tony [nominatied twice] awards.

Ms. Kitt leaves behind a daughter and two grandchildren. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and fans.

Talented Christmas Greetings

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Believe it or not, no one is up in our house yet, but me. The kids, the wife, the dogs — everyone is still fast asleep. That’s okay though. I’m enjoying the quiet before the storm of Christmas morning.

There are so many things I love about Christmas. One of them is when folks make their own Christmas cards. The one at the top of this piece is by the uber-talented Dave Johnson. It’s just one of the many posted over at Newsarama.com. Oh, and be sure and check out this really cool one by Rick Burchett and Chris Mills.

Oh-oh. Sounds like everyone is starting to wake up. Have a great day!

Happy Celebration!

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It’s Christmas Eve. That means tonight we’ll have the traditional gathering of the Zablo clan. Despite what you may have heard, when we all get together for Christmas Eve it’s pretty traditional. There will be plenty of presents for the kids, tons of laughs, good food and hopefully the creation of one or two great memories. And while nephew Bartle-Doo Corbett and Uncle Brent may have to be reined in a few times, it should be a fun night with no one going to jail or the hospital.

Here’s hoping that whatever you celebrate is the best ever… and no matter what you believe, Santa still swings by.

[And a tip o’ the Santa cap to Eric Powell who created the art used in today’s header – Craig]

Jim Ivey Packs 2 Kinds of Heat

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Yesterday John Beatty, his bride, Bella, and I drove over to Orlando to spend a little quality time with our ole buddy, Jim Ivey. The three hour marathon breakfast session included so many discussion tangents and laughs that it would be impossible to recount them all.

I will share one story though. Jim is 83 years old and he still gets up and goes on a daily early morning walk. On one of these trips as he was enjoying a hot cup of coffee and smoking one of his famous cigars a man jumped out at him from behind some bushes. Jim loudly announced: “Stay back! I’m armed!” and the man jumped back and went the other way. Knowing that Jim owns a handgun, I asked it he was carrying it. His reply, “No, but I was armed. I had a hot cup of coffee in one hand and a lit cigar in the other!”

And knowing Jim he’d have used them!

Fast & Furious Again

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MTV Movies scored a first look at the new “Fast & Furious” poster. This is not to be confused with a new poster for the original “Fast & Furious” movie, but instead a new poster for a new movie of the same name. It’s actually the fourth in the series… but has the same name as the original.

Confused?

Let’s hope that movie-goers aren’t because the new “Fast & Furious” looks like it will be as much fun as the original. You can check out a larger photo of the poster here.

Remembering Robert Mulligan

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Robert Mulligan, 83, the Oscar nominated director of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” died at his Connecticut home Friday from heart disease. Although the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” is his best known effort, Mr. Mulligan’s credits include films such as “Love with a Proper Stranger,” “Up the Down Staircase,” “Summer of 42,” “Same Time Next Year,” and “Bloodbrothers.” Known as an actor’s director, Mr. Mulligan repeatedly worked with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood including Gregory Peck, Steve McQueen, Tony Curtis, and others. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and fans.

Oh, Oh, Oh! Ho, Ho, Ho!

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You all remember my buddy, Jim Ivey, right? Yeah, he’s the 83 year old political cartoonist – former owner of The Cartoon Museum in Florida – co-founder of OrlandoCon – author – teacher – card player – and all around good guy.

I received my Christmas card from Jim today and it’s a tri-fold job that he created. The first two folds are show above. Click here to see the reveal. Not only do I hope I have as much wit and energy as Jim when I’m 83, I wish that I did now.

Francesco’s Sweet Deal!

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I recently discovered that Francesco Francavilla was offering a free quick sketch with every sketchbook purchased from his blog. Since I’d been a fan of his work for a while, I decided that the time was right to take advantage of the deal. I checked to make sure that he was down for a Stallone piece [he was] and then Paypalled him some of my hard earned smack-a-toons for a copy of Chiaroscuro Volume I and a Stallone quick sketch.Francesco quickly contacted me to say that he’d received the order and that he’d be sending it out by the end of the week. About midway into the next week a securely wrapped package arrived. [Francesco must have heard about my mail carrier!] I opened it to find the sketchbook and Francesco’s take on Sly as Freddy in Cop Land. I sat down and checked out the book which is chock full of sketches — everything from Batman to Zorro to Sin City to Judge Dredd, the Fantastic Four, Hellboy and so much more!

Talk about a great deal — the sketchbook and original piece of art for twenty-three bucks including postage! I plan to go back for the second sketchbook, Schermoscuro Volume 1 after the first of the year. Check out Francesco’s web site and you may want in on the deal yourself.

PS — I plan to post Francesco’s Cop Land piece this weekend.

The Crow is Reinvented

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Variety has announced that “Stephen Norrington has signed on to write and direct a reinvention of “The Crow,” based on the comic created by James O’Barr.” Norrington is best known as the director of “Blade” [which most folks liked and I didn’t care for] and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” [which was almost universally panned, and I enjoyed].

Since I’m a fan of the original comic by J. O’Barr, I’m happy to see the character return to the big screen. Let’s hope that this “reinvention” is more like “League” than “Blade.”

The Eternal Prison

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The last time I mentioned Jeff Somers here at the ZONE, it was in praise of his second Avery Cates novel, The Digital Plague. I know it’s hard to believe, but I enjoyed The Digital Plague just a bit better than The Electric Church [which I loved].
Over at his blog, Jeff recently posted the Jae Lee cover to the third book in the series, The Eternal Prison. If you haven’t yet read the first two Avery Cates novels, now is the time to jump on board. The third one doesn’t come out until next year and that would give you plenty of time to catch up.

You could also hang out at Jeff’s blog where he regularly posts and interacts with fans. [I guess you could hang out there even if you didn’t read his books, but if Jeff found out he’d probably send his winged monkeys after you. So if you choose to do that, you do so at your own peril. You have been warned!]