Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman

Now that my boys, the Wolfman and the Wolfman's brother, are ages 7 and 5 respectively, I am learning more about superheroes.  You read that gender-biased statement correctly:  my daughter, Concealed Light, followed my own childhood interests and expressed zero interest in any person made of steel, plastic, iron or was mutated in some bizarro chemical spill.  Of course I loved  the original Adam West Batman TV show, but that was mainly for the intro theme song and not the show itself (except I loved the cartoon animation in between the people actors).  I fell asleep in the movie theater on one of my first dates, where I was brought to the 1989 film Batman (bad choice, you nice but geeky teenage boy!  Needless to say, there wasn't a second date.).

And yet I am so excited to report that my friend Marc Tyler Nobleman just published what sounds like a fascinating story about the unknown creator of Batman:  Bill Finger.  Buy the book and at the very least watch this informative and entertaining video, which I am sure was not intentionally planned to be the length of 4 minutes and 20 seconds.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Marc was, from the time I have known him in high school, always an innovative creator of skits and plays, so this video is sure to be a fun watch.

Always the humorist, Marc wrote about the trailer: "warning:  contains tights."




How happy did it make me to see listed among the credits of this trailer a few of Marc's high school friends with whom he is still quite close.  I have long understood that my dear friend Marc and his high school buddies (with whom I also had good times during high school and college) are fantastic all-American guys.   But don't go thinking they were rough-and-tumble quarterbacks and line-receivers!  Most of them were and still are wholesome jokesters, although Kevin was a pretty good baseball player.  They are so lucky to have each other even until today.  Their ruach (positive energy) was always infectious!

Marc worked on the book for 5 years...that surely is a labor of love!  I feel terribly honored to be his friend and am thrilled to blog about Bill the Boy Wonder in my teeny tiny little corner of cyberspace.

Mama Tip #6: Fun Snacks and The Original Fun Healthy Snacks

I know it's been done, but here is how easy it is to make a healthy snack fun and a fun snack healthy.

The Wolfman's Brother enjoying:  2 dried plums, 2 sugar cookies, 3 veggie straws, 4 chocolate chips, 10 almond slivers.  Dill will surely not get eaten.  I know, I need more fresh options but at least the dried plums are a good start.

In 4th Grade my classmate Jason brought in this cookbook and demonstrated the recipe for the vegetable monsters.  It was a lot of fun.  Mother subsequently purchased for me, during Cook Book Book Report Month.  My friend, the author and cartoonist Marc Tyler Nobleman always loved that I had this book on my shelf, as he is a super hero all-knowing guru.

Very early adopters of healthy eating guidelines in the early 80s, this book's messages of  healthy eating stayed with me throughout my childhood.  I believe this is out of print but you can currently get it on Amazon for $75.00

I actually ended up taking Dr. Joan Gussow's course on Nutritional Ecology at Teacher's College of Columbia University.  I recently wrote her a note thanking her for her work.  I mentioned this book and how much it meant to me.  Dr. Gussow didn't remember me, but that didn't matter.  She is a trailblazer when it comes to healthy eating.  For her I have the highest regard.

Yeah, some locally-sourced fruits would have been a good addition to the Wolfman Brother's snack.

At least he had organic milk for those cookies.