Greetings fans!
I hope that all of you enjoyed the last holiday weekend of the summer. Perhaps you took some extra days off before or after Labor Day. Yours truly is in that camp, taking my family to the Jim Henson exhibit at Skirball Cultural Center. It was a first time for myself, my mother, and visiting sister from DC to take in that museum off the 405 freeway that I always said I would visit since moving here back in 2005 (Nearby Getty Center is next on the list). As the name suggests, this was a display of the great puppeteer and actor Jim Henson's work, starting from his early days operating puppets for late-night talk shows in the 1950's and '60s, to his groundbreaking work on "Sesame Street," "The Muppet Show," and "Fraggle Rock," and also is film work on not only his muppet-themed motion pictures, but grittier work like "Labyrinth" and "The Dark Crystal" films. My only knock on the exhibit was the absence of his work on the TV series "Dinosaurs," which premiered several years after his untimely death in 1990, but that could have been due to size limitations of the exhibit area, since the dinosaur creations were basically large costumes rather than marionette or hand puppets. In addition, we saw another piece of TV history as well a few hours before the exhibit. While most in a certain age group is familiar with the legendary 1980s miami-based sitcom "The Golden Girls," what some don't know (including myself and my family) is that the house used for exterior shots at the beginning of the show was located in Brentwood, California, rather than in a Florida city (though I later read that this was only the case in the show's first season. All other seasons used a replica of the Brentwood residence build on the Disney Orlando studio lot).
Then there was the fantastic John Williams concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It was my third time at the venue (having seen James Taylor, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, and Christopher Cross there earlier in the summer), and it was yet again a great performance. Most of his signature compositions were played such as the "Indiana Jones," "E.T.," and "Star Wars", though I wished he had time to play the "Superman Main Title March," my personal favorite. Nonetheless, it was a great performance anyway. The best part was the special appearance of Steven Spielberg to introduce the E.T. and Indiana Jones pieces. Specifically before a piece from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was played along with a movie clip, it was first played without the music, then played live with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra to show just how important music score is to a film. Equally as important, as good as this show was, is being able to exit the arena in a reasonable amount of time. Having seats farther away from the exits during the previous two shows, this time I made sure to not only have a seat in a section closer to the exit row, but also an end seat on the section row I was at, giving me easier access to the bathroom and snack bar. All in all, it was a great way to end the summer concert season for me at the Bowl.
Lastly, this long weekend allowed me to finish three more pages of my "Just Imagine" prequel, with pages 7,8, and 9 now inked (page 7 was just colored) last night. The other two pages should be colored by the end of this week. Unfortunately, this book won't be ready in time for next weekend's Open Arts and Music Festival in Glendale, but should be ready for my other two shows at the end of the month. As always, I'll keep you posted.
Well, that's all the Carter Comics news for this past week and holiday weekend. Next week, I will be covering my attendee experience at Long Beach Comic Con this coming Sunday. I'll be stopping by artist alley to visit friends and eat BBQ next door at the waterfront. Until next tuesday!
Regards,
Allen Carter
Carter Comics