"Democrats hailed Mr. Cuomo's aggressive gun-control push..."

"... citing it as an example of a muscular brand of politics that the governor has made his signature in two years in office. He has bent a Legislature partially controlled by Republicans to his will on other liberal issues, such as legalizing gay marriage and solidifying higher tax rates for the wealthy."

Hail! Governor Cuomo, O muscular leader, you of the aggressive push! Yea, even as Superman to a bar of steel, you have bent a Legislature!

Why was Superman wearing underpants over his tights in the first place?

Rob Bricken pushes back against those who are outraged at Superman's redesigned outfit. The original outfit (from 1933) was based on what circus strongmen of the time wore. But no one gets that reference anymore. So:

No one is looking at Superman's redesigned outfit in DC's New 52 and saying, "Boy, now that Superman doesn't have underpants, he no longer looks like a circus strongman, which was a visual that had no value to me!" Maybe a few people are saying, "Boy, Superman's skin-tight unitard sure looks adult and manly now that he isn't wearing underwear!" …maybe. But most people are saying, "He looks weird without it."

Think about why old-time circus strongmen dressed like they did: They wanted to show off their muscles in a leotard and tights, but they needed to avoid all that precise definition around their genitalia. If it's just a drawing though, the artists can render the crotch any way they want. They don't need pants, but the lack of pants makes you think about it:

I have no idea why this is - maybe our brains instinctively know when a guy is effectively wearing a unitard, his junk should be visible. You don't have to want to see it, you don't even have to think about it for more than a second, but the lack of underpants forces us to acknowledge the super-crotch, while underpants allow us to ignore the region entirely.

And then there's movie Superman. (Photo of underpantsless Superman at the link.)

By taking away Superman's briefs in both the comics and the movies, DC is working against 80 years of tradition, a tradition that superheroes have completely claimed from their original inspiration. They aren't making Superman look any less "silly" - he's still wearing tights and a cape, for fuck's sake. They're simply making people think about Superman's penis now, and not everybody wants to. 

 (Via Metafilter.)

"Don’t sell yourself well? Think of 'you' as a superhero version of yourself."

"Make a list of your best qualities. Dress the way SuperYou would dress. Talk the way SuperYou would talk. Be SuperYou. Role play. It’s a part. Experiment. This is play."

Advice, from Susannah Breslin, via Instapundit.

Is it good advice? I don't think I want everyone following it. I think Obama follows it.



That's a great video from JibJab, which I'd never seen before. It went up in June 2009. Really interesting to watch now. I just happened upon it, Googling "Obama superman" to illustrate my little "I think Obama follows it" remark.

IN THE COMMENTS: EDH links to this hilarious "Dragnet" clip ("Would your entire life fit into one small room?"):

New Hampshire kid asks (nearly) all the GOP candidates what superhero they'd like to be.

(Via Bloggingheads.)

Why would a candidate say anything other than Superman? You just know they're probably going to say Superman. (Santorum and Huntsman don't.) So I think follow-up question would be: Could Superman be President of the United States? See if you can get a big "natural born citizen" thing going.

Look! Up in the sky! It's Superprotester!

(Chip tweaks my pic posted last night.)

"But for the life of me, who in God’s name is into a Superwoman whose underwear slips while carrying celery?"

Nattb is puzzled. But it would all make sense if only he knew about "The Peculiar Art of Mr. Frahm."

Obamamanman.

This T-shirt is being worn unironically by my sons' cousin, James Sasso. It is a T-shirt that, I feel sure, has irony in its future.

David Carradine, found dead in Thailand.

At the age of 72.

I loved him in the 1960s TV show "Shane":



And, much more recently, in the wonderful Taratino movie "Kill Bill":



What a face! What presence! Beautiful.

Sad.

"One guy that was home at night was Batman."

"He was introduced in Detective Comics number #27 by Bob Kane. I always loved Batman. The way I looked at it, you had to come from another planet to be Superman, but I could be Batman… and you know I tried."

Just one item from a list of the best of Theme Time Radio With Bob Dylan. I love that radio show. I love satellite radio. And Bob Dylan. And now, I guess, Batman. Are you staying home tonight? I am. But I don’t think I could be Batman. Or even Bob Dylan. Do you?

(Posted at Instapundit too. Just felt like cross posting. Because I'm staying home tonight and I got the notion.)