Follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Golden Arches

Oh, cool! Sharon Ray over at Curiozity Corner, a nice blog on Oz collectibles, has news of the next big Happy Meal promotion at McDonald's. Laura and I are not big McDonald's eaters (particularly after seeing Super Size Me), but this is something that can get us in again. Good thing the Happy Meals aren't too big, and we can get their tasty apple dippers in place of the fries.

Oz sightings

Oh, there are a lot of them to report on today. So let's get cracking, shall we?

SIGHTING: Way back on February 15, The Daily Show with John Stewart had an interesting quote about the debate in the House of Representatives for a non-binding resolution on Iraq. This comes from Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah):

Yesterday I had the opportunity of going back to Baltimore and watching a play, Wicked. ("Go on," John Stewart theatrically interjects.) And in the play, the main character, the male lead, Fiyero is in love with Elphaba. And she tries to distance herself from him by saying, "Yeah, but you're thoughtless and shallow." And Fiyero says, "I know, but I'm a deep shallow." This resolution is a deep shallow.

"The only thing I can say," adds Stewart, "is good thing he didn't get tickets to..." Um, a play I probably shouldn't talk about in a family friendly blog like this. So here's a link to the show's website (WARNING: Not work safe, and don't leet the kids see this!) On a side note: Hey, with that testimony, Wicked is now in the Congressional Record!

SIGHTING: Okay, who's the Oz fan now writing for Jeopardy!? Laura and I were eagerly looking forward to seeing the show last night, because word was that all of the categories in the Double Jeopardy round had to do with the X-Men. Yes, they did. (For the record, the categories were Wolverine, Storm, Magneto, Rogue, Colossus, and "X"-Men.) But before that, there was this $600 clue in the category Literary Baddies:



Sue, in the middle, rang in and asked, "Who is the Wicked Witch?" Alex prompted, "Of..." and Sue added, "...of the West?" Then, in Double Jeopardy, we got this $1600 clue in the category Storm, which is about storms in movies:



Defending champion Brad rang in immediately and got it right by asking, "What is 'Twister'?"

SIGHTING: Gili Bar-Hillel, Israel's biggest Oz fan, is in the news again, although yet again it's about her other job, translating the Harry Potter books into Hebrew. Man, it sounds like she's got some inside information that the rest of us will have to wait for until this summer. (Yes, I already have my copy on pre-order, and Laura's already on the wait list at the library.) So quit reading my stuff already and go read about her already. (UPDATE: Wow! This was even reported on in my local paper! Okay, yeah, it was a small blurb in the "Odds and Ends" section on page 2, two stories down from Britney Spears going back into rehab again, but still, I know her!)

SIGHTING: The folks at Illusive Arts putting together the Dorothy comic book seem to be following The Baum Bugle's publishing schedule, but at least they're kind enough to tell us. Yes, issue seven is coming out next week. Here's the press release.

No Ordinary Life...

The Seattle Times takes a look at Meinhardt Raabe.

Oz in Jeopardy! again

Wow, this has been a fun Teen Tournament on Jeopardy! this year. Tonight was the second Oz-themed clue of the tournament. In the category "Broadway," the $2000 clue was a picture of this issue of Playbill:

Alex read the clue: "It's the most bewitching musical on Broadway, and its Playbill cover is seen here." David was the first player to ring in, and he got it right by asking, "What is 'Wicked'?"

Band of the Day: The Arctic Monkeys

I just saw this item, thanks to keywords alerting, and was amused by how big winners the Arctic Monkeys showed up for one of the awards. Go take a look. I'll see if I can find photos or video this weekend.

UPDATE: And here it is, thanks to loyal reader Bryan F. Irrera. He found it on www.stuff.co.nz.

Oz on Jeopardy

I was rather preoccupied with the Aquaman reference earlier in the show, so it took Eric to point out the Oz reference which came on the very last clue of Double Jeopardy, the $400 clue in the "Not The Dreaded Spelling Category", in which all the questions were only two letters long.

The question for this one was, of course, "What is O-Z?" (They had to spell it, not say it). The first contestant to ring in got it right (by coincidence, he also was the contestant who got the Aquaman question correct).

"One Short Day" in London

Here's the other clip we've found of a number from Wicked, as performed by the London cast on the Royal Variety Performance. The number is introduced by Adam Garcia, who plays Fiyero in the show. Very nicely done. Look for a cameo by some Denslow-inspired characters...

Hey, We're Famous!

Check out this very nice blog entry about our humble efforts on this blog. Be sure to check the comments for a link to a very good Oz news site (unless you click on my link, since it's the same one, in which case why am I directing you to the comments, huh?).

Good news for Noel Langley fans

Neil Gaiman — yes, that Neil Gaiman — has some good news for fans of Noel Langley, the primary writer of the screenplay of the famous Judy Garland film version of The Wizard of Oz. He not only wrote screenplays, he also wrote books. And...well, just go take a look.

Wicked in Britain

Laura found this clip on YouTube, and I said, "I've got to put this on the blog!" It's Idina Menzel and Helen Dallimore in the London production of Wicked. I'm not exactly sure what it's from, but I gather it's some sort of royal command performance, so it was on television or something, and it looks really good. Idina's not quite up to where she was during the original New York run, or how she performed this song on the Tony Awards, but it's all still good, and one of the best ways to see this number without going to the theater. So without further ado...

There are a few more clips up, so maybe there will be more...

Today's Oz comic

In honor of the Super Bowl today... Oh, just go take a look at today's Mother Goose and Grimm. This one will be a little tricky to find. The link takes you to the archive page, but you still have to find today's date (02/04/07) to see it. Still, if it's still 2007 as you read this, that's not too tough, as it's in the pull-down menu to the upper right of whatever cartoon you get when the page comes up. Otherwise, go to the "MMG" menu at the left, choose "2007" and then look for "02/04/07".

And now for a word from our sponsor

Whoever put together this ad sure did their research into the history and development of a certain famous pair of shoes!

eBay Auction with Oz Toys!

Via Mark Evanier, follow this link to see a massive auction for a bunch of vintage toys, including some objects that might be of interest to Oz fans. I spotted a Viewmaster reel and a coloring book for sure, but sharp-eyed Oz fans might be able to spot even more.