“Survivor”-themed 10th birthday party

Twelve kids.

Nine challenges.

Four hours.

One Survivor!

Yes, the girls had to vote each other out. And were great sports about it, as the photos and three short videos below illustrate.

The background:

My love of the TV show Survivor led to my daughter’s love of Survivor which led to a Survivor-themed 10th birthday party. Knowing this would be rather involved, I started planning it soon after her 9th birthday.

I wondered if it would be upsetting (to the girls, the parents, or both) if we retained the elimination aspect. But I believe in honest competition and facing fear and teaching young people how to lose gracefully. So we kept in voting out (though we did not allow forming alliances, not that there would have been time anyway).

I told the girls that they are friends first, Survivors second. I said that being voted out is a compliment—it means others think you are good enough to beat them. And believe me, every girl wanted to win.

I asked them to think of other games they love to play with friends (chess, Uno, Monopoly)—and asked them to think of how they feel when a friend wins. Then I asked them to imagine if those other games allowed you to get rid of your competition. They understood...and seemed to like the prospect.

It was game on.

How it worked:

• The Survivors were asked to come in white T-shirts, shorts with pockets (in case they found the hidden immunity idol), and sneakers.
• Soon as they arrived at 5 p.m., they ate hot dogs and hamburgers (we spared them rice) while I showed them relevant clips from several episodes of Survivor:

• an introduction (how the competitors meet and start the game)
• a merge
• a food challenge
• an endurance challenge
• a tribal council

• To form two teams of six, they randomly drew buffs (either blue or orange bandanas). They each got a matching Survivor sticker (blue = water, orange = fire) and a nametag. (As in real Survivor, not all the players knew each other beforehand; it was a mix of friends from school, the neighborhood, ballet, etc.).
• They had five minutes to come up with a tribe name (my only parameter: the name could not be an English word) and draw a tribe banner using only different shades of their respective tribe colors.
• With Survivor music playing, they entered the arena with titters and a few jitters.
• Some challenges were for immunity and reward, and some just immunity.
• It went challenge, tribal council, challenge, tribal council…no down time.
• Players voted out could participate in most subsequent challenges (it was a party), but they could not win rewards or vote at tribal council.
• They merged at eight players, at which time they dropped their buffs and had five minutes to apply tribal face paint.
• The party was scheduled to start early enough so most of the challenges were in daylight but late enough so that the last couple—and, most importantly, the last tribal council—were in the dark.

We experienced two setbacks while setting up and two mishaps during the game.

The setbacks:

• Two hours before the Survivors arrived, we discovered that a squirrel had gnawed a hole in the hose connecting the grill to the propane tank; my wife shrewdly duct-taped it so the young Survivors would not starve as their adult counterparts often do.
• An hour and a half before the Survivors arrived, as I tested the two eight-foot planks that the players would have to cross, one snapped under my weight; I rushed to the nearest hardware store for a replacement.

The mishaps:

• One player fell when the plank slid out from under her; luckily the grass underfoot was soft and after I repositioned the plank, she got right back on.
• One player cut her lip while trying to catch an ice cube in her mouth (for a challenge).

At least no one was medically evacuated. And no tears, only cheers—of support, for their teammates when voted out as much as when giving their all.
 
The photos/videos: 

Competition site. Note bricks along fence. 

They will come into play soon.

 

Tiki torches and team mats.

Tribal immunity and individual immunity. Both from Guam.

Tribal council. Bonus: a window.

The voting slips and box.

Rewards included Survivor bandanas, a Survivor board game, 

Survivor-inspired adventure novels for kids thanks to 

my generous author friend Chris Tebbetts, 

a book I wrote called Vanished, an LED light stick (three colors!), 

shampoos/lotions (thanks Holiday Inn or Homewood Suites), 

and for the Sole Survivor, the DVD of the complete season of Survivor Palau.

Gift/reward bags and Survivor music.

The hidden immunity idol (AKA Field Day medal).

Can you find it? (One of the girls did even though I 

forgot to announce it!)

Survivors watching Survivor.

The orange (fire) team.

 The blue (water) team.

Me as Jeff Probst explaining Challenge #1: strategy. Each team stands

on an island (i.e. bedsheet); first team to flip its island 

without any player stepping off wins.

The second tribal council.

Voting.

Challenge #2: giving/following direction. Callers guide 
blindfolded teammates in picking up five team-colored flags 
scattered across yard; first team to return all five of their flags 
to its mat wins.

Challenge #3: balance/aim. Survivors must walk a plank holding a cup of water 

and toss as much of that water as they can into a container; 

once all team members have crossed, 

team whose container holds more water wins.

Challenge #4: puzzle. First team to complete a 100-piece rainforest puzzle wins.

Twist: teams did not know till piece #99 that piece #100 was

hidden somewhere in the yard.

Blue team finished first (it took 18 minutes); look hard and you 

might notice the gap for the missing final piece they are off searching for.

Can you spot it?

Testing the hidden piece they found.

After four group challenges, the tribes merged and 

took a break from the game to apply face paint.

Merged and merry.

Merged and menacing.

Merged, menacing, and approaching.

Challenge #5: courage/mind over matter. The dreaded food challenge.

Dish #1: a dill mustard/relish combo. Most ate it.

Dish #2: vegetarian caviar (seaweed). Some ate it. Some gagged.

Dish #3: crickets.

 Technically crick-ettes. (But still crickets. And three ate one!)

Eating caviar.

Revealing the crickets.

Challenge #6: strength/endurance. Hold out two bricks (five pounds each) as long 

as you can. I now know five pounds is a bit too heavy for 10-year-olds.

Challenge #7: dexterity. Toss snowballs (saved in freezer from winter) 

without dropping or crushing.

Challenge #8: memory. Survivors must arrange up to seven island-themed pictures 

(anchor, canoe, castle, palm tree, shell, turtle, volcano) 

in the order I just showed them. I started with three images; all four Survivors 

aced that and the next round. Winner remembered six.

The final three.

In the excitement, I did not photograph the winner (above on left).

6/17/16 addendum: Survivor-themed 12th birthday party.

“The Odd-Shaped Object,” an unpublished 1968 picture book

As a child, I vividly remember poring over an unpublished picture book manuscript in our family’s possession; I was especially captivated by the multicolored rug that plays into the story (but that was not The Odd-Shaped Object of the title).

The author/illustrator (whose day job was elementary school teacher) saved not only the original art but also notes for the cover letter…and a rejection letter she received in 1968.

Four years later, she would have a son who would grow up to go through similar experiences.

 

Eleanor Nichols, the editor who turned down my mom before she was my mom, worked at McGraw-Hill for 30 years, retiring in 1990 and passing away in 2000.

I love you, mom, for being my ongoing creative influence and so, so much more.

Hands Across America - 28th anniversary

On 5/25/86, I supplied two of the hands in Hands Across America. 

Somehow I managed to drag my dad and sister there, too; we must have taken the train from New Haven, CT, to New York City. I was in middle school yet I remember almost nothing about this momentous event. Even the photos are not triggers.
 

Product placement.

The actual holding of the hands.

 

My sister and father.

Throng of people crossing street in distance, with rest of area deserted.

What is original about Superman and Batman

Non-superhero fans might not see much difference between Superman and Spider-Man and Everyotherman.

They probably don’t know that Superman is generally considered the world’s first superhero and that Batman followed less than a year after.

Why did Superman and Batman endure to this day but no action figures or film franchises came calling for, say, the Enchanted Dagger and Micro-Face?

To be sure, not every original character has a long life, and not every character who has a long life has it because of originality…but I do think Superman and Batman’s originality contributed to their success.

Multiple external factors contributed to the longevity of the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight, but here are conceptual reasons.

What was original about Superman:

• first comic book character with powers, costume, and secret identity (all three elements existed before, but not in a single character)
• unfamiliar figure in familiar setting (prior to Superman, science fiction commonly portrayed humans visiting other worlds—we were the strangers in a strange land)
• civilian, not hero, was the fabricated identity
• a superhuman who was benevolent, not alienated or power-mad

What was original about Batman:

Batman was not the first do-gooder without powers. He was also not the first hero who was orphaned as child, not the first to wear a costume, not the first to have a secret identity, and not even the first with blanks for eyes.

Yet he was the first hero in comic books whose orphaning inspired his heroism—i.e. the first with a psychological reason to wage war on crime.

Of pre-Batman costumed heroes the Scarlet Pimpernel, Tarzan, Zorro, Gladiator, the Green Hornet, Doc Savage, the Phantom, the Shadow, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and the Spider, none appear to be driven by vengeance or grief rooted in childhood; the Lone Ranger’s brother was killed, but both were already adult.

Also, Batman was a hero who looked like a villain and a vigilante who was also a detective.

Both Superman and Batman synthesized qualities from previous figures of literature, film, and myth to create something that felt utterly new.

Authors to Oklahoma after the tornado

A year ago today, as no one needs reminding, a tornado struck Moore, OK, leveling two elementary schools (Briarwood and Plaza Towers) among, of course, many other buildings.

When I saw this heartbreaking graphic, I felt I had to try to do more than donate to the Red Cross.

Plaza Towers Elementary School, before and after

I wanted to replicate the moving kidlit author variety show we did for the students of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT on 2/12/13.

On 5/22/13, I put out a similar call to authors I knew and as before, many responded ready to participate. With Sandy Hook, I asked authors within driving distance to make the logistics easier, but with Moore, I cast a nationwide net because I did not know any authors who lived nearby; we would all have to fly there.

The same day, I also emailed administrators in Moore, expressing condolences, keeping it short, and acknowledging that I understood that they had 1,000 more pressing priorities at the moment. I just wanted to slip our little offer into the mix early. I couldn’t get the emails from their district site; it (for the obvious sad reason) would not load.

On 5/27/13, I heard back from Moore: they were interested, and three principals had volunteered to head up the effort. I explained that this would be contingent on support from our publishers (and beyond; see below) and they understood.

When we discussed potential dates on 5/31/13, we had to cut it short because another bad storm was on the way in the Moore area. Luckily, it was not anywhere near the strength of the 5/20/13 monster.

On 6/7/13, we settled on 8/29/13 as the date—part of a positive back-to-school kickoff.

Then I set out to do something I never had to do before: secure corporate sponsorship. I couldn’t well invite a bunch of authors to shoulder the travel costs to get to OK; well, I could, and many would probably have been willing and able, but I felt it would be easier all around if I could go back to the authors with donated flights and hotel rooms to make the process more feasible.

As I explained in my pitch to airlines, the authors are donating time, we are asking our publishers to donate books and as much as they can toward travel expenses, and we are looking for an airline to donate our flights.

One hotel generously offered a couple of rooms—and you can imagine how many requests they got in the wake of the disaster—but we would be a group of at least 20. In any case, I didn’t get anywhere with airlines, though the one that did respond was kind. With heavy heart, I had to go back to the Moore principals and tell them that I was unable to pull it together. They could not have been more gracious about it, though I still felt horribly.

I have plenty of tricks to learn, but hope I won’t need them.

Which "New Yorker" covers featured DC Comics characters?

The New Yorker, to which I have been a subscriber since high school, debuted in 1925. 

DC Comics, of which I have been a reader except high school, was founded in 1934. 

Two American publishing institutions.

With regard to the coveted New Yorker cover, when have the two overlapped?

Five times that I know of. (I will update if that changes.)

7/17/95; look closely and 

you will see Superman

(Peter de Sève)

4/17/99 Plastic Man *

(Art Spiegelman)

11/1/10 I count four (Superman, Batman, 

Robin, Wonder Woman), 

plus two Marvel (Spider-Man, Hulk)

(Ivan Brunetti) 

10/27/14 Joker

(Mark Ulriksen)

10/31/22 Batman

(Sergio García Sánchez)

* Plastic Man was originally published by Quality Comics, but DC acquired him in 1956.

Thanks to Sean Howe for remembering the 11/1/10 one.

See the voices of Black Vulcan and Samurai

In 2011, I had the privilege of interviewing many voice actors and other talent behind my favorite cartoon of my youth (okay, who am I kidding—of my all time): Super Friends.

Around the same time, the first-ever figures of Black Vulcan and Apache Chief came out as part of the Justice League Unlimited line, packaged together with Samurai, who’d had a figure in the Super Powers line of the 1980s.

I bought two sets of the three figures—one for me (no shame) and one to divvy up and send to the men whose voices lent life to these characters: Buster Jones (Black Vulcan), Jack Angel (Samurai), and Michael Rye (Apache Chief).

The first two gamely gave me their addresses, but Michael was considerably older and in poor health so I didn’t want to trouble him. 

Off went the Black Vulcan and Samurai figures (while their cartoon inspirations had the natural ability of flight, these versions flew via USPS).

But it was only recently that I went back to Buster and Black Vulcan and Jack and Samurai to ask for them to pose like this:

Obviously not only good actors but also good sports.

Huge thanks to my longtime friend Mike Fox for sparing Buster the awkward task of taking a selfie while holding a toy. [9/16/14 addendum: Only a few months after Mike took Buster’s photo, Buster passed away.]

(Oh, and Michael Rye died 9/21/12. RIP Apache Lantern.)

Pakistani teacher got his tablet PC, but…

In March 2014, I put out a call to raise money to buy and send a tablet PC to a teacher in Pakistan who emailed me about the pathetic (his word) state of education there.

My network came through and then some, which means Tayyab gets his tablet and then some (namely a Bluetooth keyboard and a case).

In exchange for the computer shown above, Tayyab agreed to send me photos of himself and his students with said computer.

 Tayyab; three of his students are below

Thank you again to the following for contributing (many of whom generously disregarded my request for donations of $5):

Lara N.
Rafael N.
Cristina P.
Michelle B.
Shira R.
Judy P.
Becca L.
Karen Y.
Bruce S.
Kristin C.
Mandee J.
Alison S.
Lauren D.
Paula Y.
Brad R.
Adam G.
Karen C.
Deborah M.
Candice G.
Anne K.
Elizabeth S.
Jennifer M.
Dara K.
Judy S.
David L.
Donna B.
Brett C.

But there is a “but.”

Though I sent the tablet on 3/25/14, customs held up delivery until 5/8/14.

And not without cost.

Tayyab had to pay 15,631 Pakistani rupees in duties and taxes...

...plus 7,391 in storage and civil aviation charges, none of which could have been calculated and paid for up front along with shipping.

In dollars, this totals more than $230—and therefore more than the cost of the tablet itself ($200 before tax, not to mention the $192 to FedEx it).

I asked Tayyab what his monthly salary is.

He said 20,000 Pakistani rupees—about $203.

He had to take out a loan just to receive this shipment, adding

Marc I am the breadwinner for my family. I just requested you the Tablet PC so that it can facilitate ELT [English Language Teaching] over here. I am myself giving interviews for IELTS tutor but there are not much students in institutes so I do not get appropriate salary. I am still trying everyday as I really believe in POSITIVE THINKING! I know I just request you always of certain things but I see HOPE in your being.

So the tablet he asked me to send for his students ended up costing him more than if he had just bought it himself.

And I feel horribly.

So I’d like to work together again to reimburse Tayyab for these charges.

I’m asking the same as before: if you would like to help, please simply PayPal me $5; to do that, you don’t need a PayPal account yourself. All you need is approximately 27 seconds and my email, mtnobleman@gmail.com.

To pay off Tayyab’s debt, let’s make it an even $250. That’s only 50 people contributing only $5. (Of course, should you wish to give more, that will be gladly welcomed.)

Like the last round of fundraising, once we hit the goal, I’ll stop accepting donations.

Thank you for whatever you are willing to do.

And in any case, Tayyab and his students do have a device that he thinks will make a significant difference in his work, and their future.

5/20/14 addendum: You did it again! Thank you again to those who contributed to reimburse the $250 in taxes that Tayyab incurred for receiving the tablet:

* = also contributed to the cost of the tablet/shipping

Brad R. *
Lauren D. *
Shawn P.
Bruce S. *
Paul M.
Deb M. *
Nick B.
Jim M.
Roz E.
Travis L.
Michelle B. *
Nora B.
Brian A.
Ross G.
Chris T.
Chris G.
Alison S. *
Annie K. *
Karen C. *