posted April 21, 2008 07:59 AM
.
Alfred E. Neuman is a fictional person, mascot of EC Publications' MAD Magazine. As the gap-toothed, freckled kid who never worries, he has appeared on almost every MAD cover. Every issue has a "thought provoking" quote attributed fictionally to him. 
Quotes attributed to this fictional charactor:
"What, Me Worry?"
"A college jock is someone who minds his build instead of vice versa!"
"A plastic surgeon's office the only place where no one gets offended when you pick your nose!"
"A teacher is someone who talks in our sleep!"
"Blood is thicker than water... but it makes lousy lemonade!"
"Getting old is when a narrow waist and a broad mind change places!"
"How come stealing from one book is plagiarism, but stealing from many is research?"
"How come we choose from just two people for President, and fifty for Miss America?"
"If opera is entertainment, then falling off a roof is transportation!"
"If you repeat the same grade once you're a dummy-if you repeat it 20 times you're a teacher"
"In retrospect it becomes clear that hindsight is definitely overrated!"
"It takes one to know one -- and vice versa!"
"It's funny how no one is ever so busy that they can't find the time to complain.
"Medical insurance is what allows people to be ill at ease!"
"Most people are so lazy, they don't even exercise good judgment!"
"Most siblings won't share anything except embarrassing stories about you!"
"Nowadays, a balanced diet is when every McNugget weighs the same!"
"People who borrow will take anything-but a hint"
"Politicians are always trying to convince you that they can solve the unemployment problem if you'll just give them a job!"
"Prison inmates are treated to cable TV, hot meals and a college education, while on the outside some people can only afford these things through a life of crime!"
"Smoking helps you lose weight -- one lung at a time!"
"Talk is cheap-but say the wrong thing to your parents and it'll cost you!"
"Teenagers are people who act like babies if they're not treated like adults!"
"Thank's to the new welfare bill, the question "Paper or plastic?" now refers to many American's sleeping arrangements!"
"The only advantage to living in the past is that the rents are much cheaper!"
"The suburbs are where they cut down all the trees and then name streets after them!"
"The U.N. is a place where governments opposed to free speech demand to be heard!"
"Today, if you ask a car dealer to let you see something for 10 grand, he'll show you the door!"
"What Goes up must come down...except, it seems these days,the cost of living!"
"Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!"
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!"
"The problem with learning from experience is that you always get the test before the lesson."
"If you want to be on the upper crust, you need to have a lot of dough."
More Information:
There was a song by Alfred E. Neuman entitled (what else?) "What, Me Worry?" the vocalist sounds suspiciously like Mel Blanc
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. It is the last surviving title from the notorious and critically acclaimed EC Comics line.
Offering satire on all aspects of American life and pop culture, the monthly publication deflates stuffed shirts and pokes fun at common frailties.
With its first issue released in August 1952 (but cover-dated October-November), Mad was a comic book, and part of the line of EC Comics published from the Lower East Side in New York City in offices located at 225 Lafayette Street. The magazine remained at that location until the summer of 1961 when it moved to 850 Third Avenue.
His first iconic full-cover appearance --identified by name, and sporting his "What, me worry?" motto -- was as a supposed write-in candidate for the 1956 presidential election on the cover of issue #30.
The original image of an unnamed boy with a goofy gap-toothed grin was a popular humorous graphic for many decades before Mad adopted it. It had been used for all manner of purposes, from U.S. political campaigns to Nazi racial propaganda to advertisements for painless dentistry. Decades ago, the magazine was sued over the copyright to the image, but prevailed by producing similar ones predating the claimant's, dating back to the late 19th century.
Harvey Kurtzman first spotted the image on a postcard pinned to the bulletin board of Ballantine Books' editor. "It was a face that didn't have a care in the world, except mischief," recalled Kurtzman. The name "Alfred E. Neuman" was derived from the 1940s radio show of comedian Henry Morgan, which included a running gag trumpeting the imminent arrival of Hollywood composer Alfred Newman, which was supposed to create intense excitement, after which Newman would appear for mere seconds, then vanish. According to Kurtzman, Morgan used "the name Alfred Newman for an innocuous character that you'd forget in five minutes." Later, Morgan was a contributor to Mad.
The boy's face is now permanently associated with Mad. With the "What, me worry?" motto, Neuman has often appeared in political cartoons as a shorthand for unquestioning stupidity.
source
*I hope something here helps?
My guess is simply that Linda connected with this American icon because of the way it was presented.
Lindaland
UBBFriend: Email This Page to Someone! 
posted April 21, 2008 07:00 AM
posted April 21, 2008 07:59 AM
posted April 22, 2008 04:27 AM
posted April 22, 2008 05:17 AM
posted June 04, 2008 07:56 PM
