PCR past banners Now in our fourth calendar year
PCR #194  (Vol. 4, No. 50)  This edition is for the week of December 8--14, 2003.

LA FLORIDIANA
The History of Aviation in Florida, Part Four: The Pioneers, Barnstormers, World-Beaters and Patron Saints of Florida Aviation
 by Will Moriaty
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEWS
LOTR: Return of the King
by Mike Smith
"Something's Gotta Give"  by Mike Smith
COUCH POTATO
BattleStar Melodramatica
 by Vinnie Blesi
SPLASH PAGE
Not Your Average Joe....Slush Pile....Weird Crap on Ebay
 by Brandon Jones
CREATURE'S CORNER
Saints & Sinners 4
....Comics
 by John Lewis
MIKE'S RANT
Happy Trails....Screening Ban, Take 3....Battlestar Galactic, Redux....LOTR: Return of the King
 by Mike Smith
Archives of Nolan's Pop Culture Review
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NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE

The Jones family ventured out to celebrate our son’s success on his second-grade spelling test and adding to his Karate credentials. His struggles last year caused us to develop a new plan of positive reinforcement and he decided to go to the Joe Jurevicius Show at the Dillard’s. Joe is a wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has a weekly hour show on a local sports radio station – 1010 the Sports Asylum (co-hosted with Steve Austin.)

Little did we know of Joe’s popularity – approximately 300 people were there, most were women. Amongst the female fans is my wife and five-year-old daughter who declined shopping to see Joe because “He’s cute!”

I know, pray for me.

Joe JureviciusAnyway, Joe and his family have endured the tragic loss of their son this year and Joe’s injury in the second game of the season. Joe has proven to be a model citizen and a proud supporter of local charities, especially charities helping kids. We can’t say this about most athletes, not even other Buccaneers.

Working toward the quietest little corner we could find, I realized that we in fact have maneuvered close to Joe’s point of entrance and exit. The kids were REALLY excited now and couldn’t believe their eyes we he walked right past them.

“He’s really big.” They said, indicating his 6’5” frame.

The show began and I was amazed at Joe’s prowess in dealing with his fans. Discussing the injuries to teammates, particularly Mike Alstott and Brian Kelly as well as preparing for each week were the early topics. Of course, the crowd had questions of its own: from the comments that he is “cute” to pre-game rituals to discussions of other players and other teams, Joe handled it all. Likewise, during a break, lucky ticket winners were pulled to receive a Jurevicius autograph and several of the winning kids posed for a snapshot.

A fantastic show and a fantastic man, but wait, it didn’t end there.

My kids impatiently survived the show and to our surprise, during Joe’s exit, he stopped and handed the kids and autographed card from the show.

“Whoa!!!!” The excitement and shock was on all over our faces.

The remainder of the weekend was spent playing, watching, or discussing football as the kids were now official Jurevicius frenzied fans. Ask any of the Jones’ kids and they’ll rattle off Joe facts, including his jersey number, that he played at Penn State or that he was at the Giants before coming to Tampa.

Well Joe, it is an honor to have you here in Tampa, not as a player, but as a member of the community. Understanding the impact you have on kids and the kindness that you exhibit to your fans are second to none. Parents should be role models to their kids, but when they admire a professional athlete you are someone that parents can be proud of too.

Thanks for being that role model not just an athlete.

Many might argue that Joe is an average player, but his off-the-field performance is superior and if you don’t believe me, just ask some local elementary kids – I know a couple that are fans.

http://www.sportsradio1010.com/

THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW, BUT MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE

(be back next time)

THE SLUSH PILE

MYTHOLOGY: THE DC COMICS ART OF ALEX ROSS: (HC $35) I have already admitted to loving the work of Alex Ross, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I find this hardcover collection to be fantastic. If you’ve never seen his work or don’t know what I’m talking about, check it out at your local Borders or Barnes & Noble.

Using friends and family as models Alex Ross paints lifelike images that seem to come from an Artograph or a tracing machine. He is appropriately described as the “Norman Rockwell of comics” and the collection features his re-creation comic covers (e.g. Action #1, Superman #1, Detective #27 & #38) as well as new innovative images (Hanna Barbera artwork featuring Space Ghost, The Herculoids, Blue Falcon & Dynomutt, and the Superfriends including Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, Samari, Marvin, Wendy and Gleek).

There are tons of notes and insights into his work on Kingdom Come and the awesome parody work for MAD with Alfred E. Newman as Wonder Woman. Ross keeps notes in every corner: Superman is 6’3”, Batman 6’2” and Wonder Woman is listed at 6’0” and there are his ties to other Pop Culture media – Queen II album cover from 1974.

Because he works in the comic book media, Alex Ross is not getting the attention I feel he deserves. Check it out at a Barnes & Noble or Borders – still disagree?

Weird Crap on eBay Update

From a $10 bar of “Fight Club” soap to a $20,000 1933 “King Kong” movie poster from the Czech – eBay has it all. Here are some recent transactions:

COMICS

KISS Super Special #1 (from Marvel) – 1977 banked a respectable $85 while a pre-comic code copy of Voodoo #10 went for $55. Superman #775 will still cost you ten to fifteen bones, but can get a set of The Punisher by Garth Ennis (issues #1-4) for that.

X-Wing Fun-meal itemTOYS

Someone is getting a 1950s Yeti, The Abominable Snowman, toy for $77.53 or a $25 metal Buck Rogers lunchbox under their tree. My childhood ties would have led down a different path – items such as the Burger Chef X-Wing Funmeal toy from 1978 ($10), vintage Micronauts, or Mego set of Monsters (Dracula, Mummy, Wolfman and more) that peaked at over $500.

DVD

Sure the 1960’s “Batman” TV Series makes it to DVD ($100), but with over 250,000 DVDs entries on eBay, did you see these? “Bride of the Re-Animator”, “The Lady in White” (with Lucas Haas), or the Fangoria 4-pack (“School’s Out”, “Lady of the Lake”, “I, Zombie”, and “Angel of the Night.”) – all going in the $30-40 range. In the bargain price range: Roger Corman’s “Attack of the Giant Leeches”, Christopher Lee in “Bloody Judge”, or that classic “The Blair Witch Project” could all have been had for five bucks!

MUSIC

An 8-track copy of The Isley Brothers’ “Live it Up” will set you back over $50, but soundtracks to “Grease” or “Saturday Night Fever” go for next to nothing. Hmmm, wonder why?

MISC

My “The reason I’m not rich item” is the 1935 Monopoly Game that went for $4,550. This is the earliest of the white box sets and was in remarkable condition. Sure you don’t want to play with it, but, er…okay, what is the point then?



"Splash Page" is ©2003 by Brandon Jones.   Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova.  All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2003 by Nolan B. Canova.