Cheshire Crossing

The online comic Cheshire Crossing has been updated with the second issue. I don't think I can quite describe it, but there are definitely Oz elements. You can get the first issue as well as the second at that address.

My latest Oz readings

A three-fer this time around, and two of them are vintage:

• With Powder on my Nose by Billie Burke. Yes, that Billie Burke. It's a somewhat autobiographical advice book, with essays about food, exercise, relationships, keeping house, that sort of thing. It came out in 1959, so she was in her '70s by then, but it sounds like she still had an active, fulfilling life going then. It's an interesting snapshot of society at the time, and a more mature woman's place in it, but a lot of it also still rings true. At any rate, this was a quick, entertaining read, if nothing else.
  
• A copy of the script L. Frank Baum submitted to the Library of Congress for the 1902 stage version of The Wizard of Oz. Wow! For all that I've ever read about or heard about this show, this was the first time I've ever had the chance to read it. I know a lot of changes were made during the run of the show, but this at least gives something of an idea. To all of those who complain about how MGM ruined The Wizard of Oz with all of the changes they made to the story to make the famous film version, all I can say is, you ain't seen nothing! And these changes were all made by L. Frank Baum himself!
  
• Predicting the Future with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a fascinating little book meant to be used by classroom teachers. This curriculum breaks The Wonderful Wizard of Oz down into chapters, and uses each as a launching point for discussions or assignments about how the book predicted things that would happen in the next one hundred years (this book came out in 2000), and invites students to look ahead and predict their own futures. As a teacher, all I can say that it's a lot of fun and would give some language arts or social studies teachers a lot of good ideas for using the book in their classes.
  

And one very cool item came in the mail today: the 2007 Dorothy calendar, based on the comic book. It looks good! Laura and I each won a copy thanks to the October contest (for which you all had to put up with lots of plugs for the book, thanks for your patience). I'm keeping one up in my Oz room, and the other is going to the winner of the quiz at the last Oogaboo Rendezvous.

Sci Fi Channel to do Oz show

Sci Fi Wire reports:

SCI FI Channel has given a green light to Tin Man, a wild SF reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, as its next six-hour original miniseries.

...

The miniseries is a sometimes psychedelic, often twisted and always bizarre take on The Wizard of Oz. It centers on DG, a young woman plucked from her humdrum life and thrust into The Outer Zone (the O.Z.), a fantastical realm filled with wonder, but oppressed by dark magic. DG discovers her true identity, battles evil winged monkey-bats and attempts to fulfill her destiny. Her perilous journey begins on the fabled Old Road that leads to a wizard known as the Mystic Man. Along the way, she is joined by "Glitch," an odd man missing half his brain; "Raw," a quietly powerful wolverine-like creature longing for inner courage; and "Cain," a heroic former policeman (known in the O.Z. as a "Tin Man"), who is seeking vengeance for his scarred heart. Ultimately, DG's destiny leads her to a showdown with the wicked sorceress Azkadellia, whose ties to DG are closer than anyone could have imagined.

Wicked in Israel!

Oz's best friend in Israel, Gili Bar-Hillel, sent me the address for a blog about Wicked, including video clips of rehearsals of a local amateur production. Yeah, it's in Hebrew, but the pictures speak for themselves. So go take a look, already. (I especially liked the "Absolut Wicked" ad.)

Today's Oz comic

Hilary Price's Rhymes with Orange is usually good for a laugh, as happens when you combine a classic movie character with today's diet concerns, as she does right here.

Oh, all right one more, although this one is subtle. Unshelved is the funniest comic strip set in a library I've ever read (and yes, that actually means it's funny). This week they've had to deal with a particularly annoying accountant, so check out Dewey's first two words in yesterday's strip.

Strange questions people have about the movie

I can always tell when the famous MGM movie version of The Wizard of Oz — you know, the one with Judy Garland &mdash' is on television, because my e-mail inbox loads up with questions about it. And wouldn't you know, TBS is showing The Wizard of Oz this weekend. So, here's what I've gotten so far:

• When was it first shown on television in color? (According to the ad from that 1956 showing that I have reproduced in a copy of The Baum Bugle, it's been shown in color from the very beginning. But I very much doubt that most of the people watching in 1956 saw the color.)
  
• Did Margaret Hamilton get skin cancer from her green make-up? (Not that I've ever heard, but she did have a slight greenish hue for a few weeks after shooting ended.)
  
• What is it that the Wicked Witch's guards are chanting? (Hey, that one's in my website's FAQ, go look for it there!)
  

The latest Oz readings

Yes, I finally finished River of Blue Fire. Yes, it was long. By a wild coincidence, the author, Tad Williams, is now going to be writing my wife's favorite comic book, Aquaman. Let's hope his comic scripts aren't as long as that book, or she's going to have no time for anything else.

After that, however, I read another, much shorter and much Ozzier book, Bill and the Purple Cow in Oz by Chris J. Wright. This was a book that the author sent to me out of the goodness of his heart last year, just for all of the Ozzy things that I've done. This is a nice little Oz book with a more traditional structure, as a kid from the outside world comes to Oz, has adventures, and goes home again. Surprisingly, you don't see that as often any more. One of the nice little twists is that the purple cow is also from the Great Outside World — from Texas, no less, and he speaks with a drawl. Lots of Ozzy fun all around. Joe Bob says check it out.

One final note: This blog has finally been mentioned in The Baum Bugle the journal of the International Wizard of Oz Club. Woo-hoo! It was in a short little piece on various Oz blogs, but The Wonderful Blog of Oz was the first one listed, and it's implied that this was the first Oz blog. Keen beans!

Wicked in Japan!

No, it hasn't actually opened in Japan yet. That's scheduled for next year some time. But here's a sneak peek:

This is part of the new Wizard of Oz attraction at Universal Studios Japan. Pretty cool!

You'll believe a monkey can fly!

Chris Dulabone, the Head Poobah over at Tails of the Cowardly Lion and Friends (go buy lots of his books, I particularly recommend the Seven Blue Mountains of Oz trilogy), has alerted me to a fun toy called a Super Fly Monkey. Go ahead, take a look, the video is a lot of fun (if you can get it to play on your browser somehow). So am I the only one who thinks they need to make a version that actually has wings?

How many Dorothy Gales are out there?

So, statistically speaking, how many people named Dorothy Gale should there be in the United States? Let's take a look on howmanyofme.com/:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 65 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

There are also a possible 52 Frank Baum's and, believe it or not, 1 Lyman Baum. Any other Oz names that might be fun to look up? (I already tried Betsy Bobbin. None. They probably all live in Oz now.)

Follow the Yellow Brick "OZ"

Google Sightseeing has found "OZ".