In case you’re interested, I’ve had a busy past few weeks — including not only recovering from a health problem, but also taking a several days-trip to Washington, D.C. with my oldest brother (via plane, no less). There are other personal factors that’ll no doubt shape not only my life, but also that of my family in the coming months — and which I’d prefer not to comment on right now, partly because I prefer to keep my personal life out of the public eye almost all of the time (and I say that very strongly).
But I can say that I haven’t forgotten both my writing and illustrating careers — and that I’ve got several projects already in the works (one of which will be the focus of my next YouTube video, not to mention a future blog article). However, it’s almost nearing my bedtime, and I do want to get up early tomorrow morning – so I’ll end this by simply saying: Stay tuned.
Before I begin my latest blog article, I should point out that for the past few days, I’ve been grappling with a health issue that I hope will be resolved within the next few days, just in time for my 47th birthday on Friday. I should also point out that said health issue hasn’t completely sidelined my writing career – I’ve recently uploaded my latest video on YouTube, as well as starting to write a new article for Triond(which I hope to complete in the next few days, barring further complications). As for the subject of my latest blog article …!
Maurice Sendak, who died today, was and will always be remembered as one of the greatest and most influential children’s authors/illustrators – not only of his generation, but also of all time. Sendak’s best known solo works – including the classic children’s book Where The Wild Things Are – remain classics to be cherished. In the case of Where The Wild Things Are, he showed childhood’s dark and troubled side with not only great imagination, but with uncompromising honesty – certainly a daring thing to do, especially when the book was first published in 1963, and one that still resonates today, considering what today’s youth is now facing. (And for the record, I thoroughly enjoyed Spike Jonez’ 2009 film version of Where The Wild Things Are, which remains just as great as the book that inspired it, which certainly pleased Sendak – not an easy thing to do, especially in today’s entertainment industry.)
Sendak, of course, also illustrated children’s books for other authors, with the results no less than magnificent – and helped guaranteed both their critical and financial success. Like the works of Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel, Sendak’s literary efforts touched a chord not just with children, but adults as well. More importantly, Sendak – like many great authors, both past and present – knew that the best and most enduring stories could also be the most thought-provoking; even Where The Wild Things Are gives you something to think about, whether you’re a youngster struggling with the perils of childhood, or an adult remembering a far simpler time. It was that extraordinary creative trait that made Maurice Sendak one of the best, not just as an author/illustrator – but also a visionary who enjoyed and cared about the quality he put into his work. And that should never be forgotten.
I’ll be busy for the next day or so — which means that it’ll be a few days before I write another blog article. (In the meantime, please check out my website, as well as my social networking pages, okay?)
Dick Clark wasn’t the original host of the long-running TV music show American Bandstand, which ran for thirty-seven years – an impressive record by any standard – but he was and still remains the most famous host (and producer) associated with the series, presenting many of the biggest names associated with rock and pop music, not to mention R&B and rap, one reason why the series is fondly remembered by several generations of music fans and TV audiences, including the baby boomers who grew up in the post World War II-era; the music greats who appeared on American Bandstand was also one reason why the series managed to keep up with the times as well as changing tastes in music – at least for most of its run.
There’s no question that Clark played an important role in American Bandstand’s success – and not just because he was its host/executive producer, as well as his famous boyish looks (thus earning him the title of “America’s oldest teenager”). Part of Clark’s talent and legacy as both a personality and media mogul was the fact that he had both an eye and an ear for talent – which is why nearly all of the rock and pop music greats appeared on American Bandstand during his hosting tenure. That same sixth sense also played a role in Clark creating the American Music Awards in 1973, in which music fans played a major role in picking the AMA winners – not to mention the annual New Year’s Rocking Eve specials that Clark hosted on ABC for almost forty years (and I point out that fact with good reason – which I’ll explain in a little while). I don’t really know if Clark had his personal dislikes as far as musical performers – but this is a personal remembrance at best, not a detailed retrospective, which I’ll leave to more experienced journalists and media historians to write about.
Like many great TV shows whose popularities declined in its later seasons, American Bandstand’s popularity faltered in the 1980’s, thanks in part to MTV’s growing success – and by decade’s end, became a thing of the past. In the past decade, there was talk of reviving American Bandstand – a plan that came to naught, partly because the entertainment world had greatly changed by that. And perhaps it was for the best – especially in an age now partially dominated by YouTube.
Even until the end of his life, Dick Clark was still very popular – not even a stroke which forced him to miss out the 2004 New Year’s Rocking Eve broadcast could diminish his popularity. He had long since become a show business icon, partly because he was young at heart, and which helps to explain why he connected with the all-important youth market who helped to influence and change the entertainment industry forever, the kind of natural gift that defined his career – and one that is all too rare today, even in the age of MP3 players and viral videos.
I’ve not only updated my website (including adding some new pages to it – and to check it out, please click on the appropriate link listed below), but also uploaded a new video on YouTube, which you can view right here:
John Lavernoich’s latest YouTube video
I’m hoping that you’ll enjoy my efforts, even during this holiday weekend. Happy Easter, everyone (and Happy Passover to my Jewish friends).
For anyone who’s read my blog in one capacity or another over the past few years – yes, I am a writer/author/illustrator/video-master who’s not only written two novels, but also a whole slew of non-fiction articles and short stories that’ve been published in print and on the Internet for almost the past twenty years, as well as various videos for YouTube. And yes, I do encourage you to check them out via the appropriate websites that are listed at the bottom of this article. (I could also mention the articles I wrote for my high school newspaper, but they probably don’t count.)
Of course, it’s hard to draw attention to what you’ve accomplished – especially in today’s mass media world. And especially when you’ve got to compete with the rest of the world in order to get noticed these days. Worse yet, much of today’s mass media industry doesn’t value quality as much as the ability to be totally annoying and crass, an unfortunate trait that’s displayed on many so-called “Reality TV” programs that really shouldn’t be on the air – least of all, conceived.
My latest writing project is a graphic novel called The Janus Conspiracy, a combination adventure/crime/political thriller which I had originally planned to write as a prose novel – until I realized that it could work better in comic book form. In case you’re interested, I’m also a tremendous comic book fan – and I’ve already created several other concepts that I’m hoping to sell to DC Comics someday. (Yes, I’m also a big DC Comics fan – and for a while, I was also a Marvel fan.)
Getting back to The Janus Conspiracy – which’ll be published by Lulu Books, which also published Chameleons To The Rescue a few years ago – I’ve already conceived the book’s overall plot outline and character descriptions. And I’m seriously considering starting work on the book’s script – which won’t be an easy thing, considering the fact that I have to juggle not only my writing and illustrating careers, but also my personal life (which isn’t uncommon to other people working in said professions – not to mention other jobs and careers).
Which brings me to what I’m about to say: when it comes to taking on a project like The Janus Conspiracy, I can’t do this alone. As I’ve done over the past few months, I’ve been trying to get one or more comic book artists, plus a colorist and letterer, to team up with me to produce The Janus Conspiracy – and I still aim. I’m also considering e-mailing several prominent comic book talents to see if they’d be interested in working with me on The Janus Conspiracy, providing that they don’t have an exclusive contract with a major comic book company. (And yes, not only can you comic book pros and aspiring talents suggest plot suggestions that will be part of the finished project – but you’ll also get a sizable share of the royalties from the book’s sales.) And just to prove that I’m not kidding, here’s one of my YouTube videos from a few months ago that actually promotes The Janus Conspiracy:
YouTube promotional video for THE JANUS CONSPIRACY.
I’m hoping that you’ll take part in what I’m hoping what’ll be an exciting creative venture. In the meantime, please visit not only my website and my pages on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, but also my Author Spotlight page on Lulu’s website and my YouTube channel page – if anything else, to get a better idea of the person writing this very article. And speaking of them:
In one of my recent blog articles, I wrote about my somewhat awkward encounter with high school politics as a member of my local high school’s student council – and believe me, it wasn’t easy. This blog article will explain – more or less – why I decided to become a registered Republican in 1984, and for a somewhat surprising reason.
I still can remember what U.S. President Jimmy Carter said when his country would not take part in the 1980 Summer Olympic games in Moscow – at that time, I was angered by what President Carter did, if only because he denied American athletes a chance to prove their worth in the Olympic Games. So much so, that I was all in favor of Ronald Reagan winning the 1980 U.S. Presidential elections – which he did. I registered as a Republican in 1984, not long after my 18th birthday – and when I legally voted at the polls on Election Day of that same year, I helped get President Reagan and Vice-President George Bush re-elected.
What I didn’t understand when President Carter decided not to let the U.S. Olympic team take part in the 1980 Summer Olympic games – and I was pretty much naïve at that time – was the reason why the United States and sixty-four other countries around the world boycotted them: namely, the Soviet Union ordering its military to invade Afghanistan, the Middle Eastern country which is still pretty much present in today’s news, in 1979. In the past few decades, I’ve come to accept the fact that President Carter did the right thing as far as pulling the U.S. out of the 1980 Summer Olympics was concerned – not only to protest the Soviet Union’s actions, but also because that country’s government violated the very principles that have come to be associated with civilization as a whole. Of course, the Soviet Union had no idea that what their military was doing at that time would one day help trigger many, if not all of the problems that now plague Afghanistan – which shouldn’t surprise those who’ve taken a serious interest in the very political crises that’ve affected the Middle East for over a century.
These days, the current state of the Republican party is one of great embarrassment – and not just with conservative politicians who should really focus more on working together with liberal Democrats to solve the country’s problems than continue to criticize each other and boost their professional egos (especially those belonging to those on both the far left and the far right). That fact alone should tell you the current state that our government is in – and why it should give our founding fathers cause of concern, if they were still alive, that is; that same fact should also tell you why I’m embarrassed to be a Republican (as is my mother). And the presence of conservative radio and TV talk show hosts who are more concerned with their inflated egos and multi-million dollar salaries than the problems currently facing our country (and the rest of the world) has only made things worse, even more so after the pathetic snafu that Rush Limbaugh made on his radio show a few weeks ago – all the more reason for us to ignore conservative media personalities altogether and consign them to permanent oblivion, which I’m hoping will happen very soon. And who wouldn’t want to see Limbaugh reduced to nothing more than an unemployed has-been? (I would – and so would every politician in Washington, including the Republicans who are afraid of Limbaugh as a demagogue.)
If the politicians associated with both the Republican and Democratic parties are smart, they’ll get their act together by not only curbing their egos, but also working together and focusing on what matters the most – namely, serving the American public and improving their lot in life, the same concept that helped bring our country into existence, and which should never be taken for granted by all Americans, whether they be Republicans or Democrats. If that ever happens, it’ll be something to be really proud of.
