In his autobiography, Joe Simon says that as a boy he got to meet a Civil War veteran and got to “shake the hand of a man who shook hands with Lincoln.” This was part of his inspiration for creating Captain America — the idea of meeting an icon. I completely love this little bit of American history: from Lincoln, to frail old veteran, to schoolboy, to the enduring American icon Captain America.

Just a week after Jerry Robinson’s death, Captain America co-creator Joe Simon has left us for that four-color splash page in the sky. Here’s an interview with him from last summer, courtesy of the Washington Post. I’m glad he got to see the Captain America movie — where, after the bad previous filmic attempts, producers actually got the character right — and I’m glad I got to meet him once, and got his autograph on my hardback reprint of the first Captain America comics from the 1940’s.

Here’s what I saw when opening a drawer in our kitchen.

Note the title of the book.

To be fair, it could also be the electronic ignition.

What did the Los Angeles Film Critics Association name the Best Picture of the year? You guessed right:  “The Descendants.” (Had there been no other movies released this year, I still wouldn’t have voted for it.)

By the way, the association also placed a lot of praise on  “Tree of Life.” Those friends I trust didn’t like that one either.

I just checked — and three of the association’s member critics are friends, and two more are former students of mine.

Well, maybe it’s not so important.

Laurie Winer, on the demolition of the Los Angeles Times by Sam Zell. It’s a tragedy, writ daily.

It’s impossible to tell! (My score:  6 out of 10.) Try for yourself!

You’d have something like this.

Shark Song from Whitehouse Content on Vimeo.