Monthly Archives: December 2013

2013 in review

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Nathan

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 73,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at … Continue reading →

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Dorothy’s Road Trip

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Nathan

The Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young – The fifth and likely penultimate of Shanower and Young’s comic versions of the Oz books, this one was originally published in only six issues, … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Comics, Eric Shanower, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Places | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Living Arts

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Nathan

One of the more bizarre recurring themes in the Oz books, albeit not one without precedent, is that of painted material becoming real when it’s lifelike enough. We first hear about this in Ozma of Oz, in which Tik-Tok reports … Continue reading →

Posted in Dick Martin, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hello Katniss

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Nathan

A few months ago, I read the three Hunger Games books, as I was tired of feeling like the only one who hadn’t. And since the second movie is now in theaters, I thought I should probably see the first … Continue reading →

Posted in VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Have a Nice Triptolemus

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Nathan

Using The House of Hades as inspiration for posts on mythology, I decided a good subject for such an entry would be Triptolemus, god of agriculture and lieutenant of Demeter. I don’t recall having heard of him before reading Rick … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Greek Mythology, Heroes of Olympus, History, Mythology, Rick Riordan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Whole Muu World

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Nathan

I’m sure most of you know that the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 started out its life as a game called Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, roughly translating to Dream Factory: Heart-Pounding Panic (the “doki doki” part being … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Buddhism, Language, Mario, Monsters, Religion, Star Trek, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ohana Means Family

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Nathan

Lilo & Stitch – Compared to the few Disney features released before it, I thought this one had better pacing and a better mix of silliness and sentiment. It has a weird premise, with a genetically engineered alien monster coming … Continue reading →

Posted in Cartoons, Revisiting Disney, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Christmas Is a Time When People of All Religions Come Together to Worship Jesus Christ

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Nathan

On Christmas Day, Beth and I caught a little of Bill O’Reilly continuing to sell his War on Christmas. Hey, what can we say? The Fox News crowd loves war. Sadly, I don’t think he’s used the term “Blitzenkrieg,” although … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Christmas, Conspiracy Theories, Fox News, Holidays, Religion, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Life of Claus

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Nathan

Aside from The Wizard of Oz, the L. Frank Baum book that likely receives the most adaptations in other media is The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, likely because Santa is such a popular character in his own right. … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Christmas, Holidays, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Deck the Halls with Advertising

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Nathan

People have long complained about Christmas being too commercial. Stan Freberg, who did a fair amount of advertising work himself, lampooned the idea in 1958 with his “Green Chri$tma$.” It was also a major theme of A Charlie Brown Christmas … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Cartoons, Christmas, Food, Holidays, Music, Television, The Flintstones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment