Blondie

Boston. -- On Labor Day Morning, 1991, Blondie Boopadoop Bumstead, 35 years old and holding, had an epiphany over her coffee cup. Worn out from cooking and cleaning lo these many decades, the suburban housewife of comic strip fame suddenly figured a way out of her domesticity. ''I could go out and get a job.''Bing! Light bulbs flash! Cameras roll! Sweetheart, get me ''The Today Show''!Not since Nora left the Doll's House, has one wife's change garnered quite this much attention. But Nora was ahead of her time.

It's 1978, and New York City, in fact the world, has disco fever. Concurrently, new wave, the pop-friendlier side of punk, is taking shape. And Blondie, an experimental band on the city's underground rock scene, leads the movement. The sextet -- which is fronted by a former Playboy Bunny with two-toned bottle-blond hair named Debbie Harry -- makes its mainstream breakthrough with the release of Parallel Lines. By the end of the year, the album, which spawns the international No. 1 smash "Heart of Glass," tops the charts and quickly sells 2 million copies.

What is all this flap about Blondie getting a job? Blondieannounces to Dagwood that she's going to start a catering business, and the whole world goes crazy. Newspapers herald the event with big, black headlines; the networks do prime-time feature pieces on their evening news programs; weekly news magazines pick up the drumbeat of amazement.I don't understand what the big deal is because women in the comics have been role models for their sex -- especially in the job market -- since at least 1920, the same year they got the vote.

TELEVISION SWINGTOWN / / 10 p.m. Thursday. WJZ (Channel 13) ....................... One of the summer's more promising new dramas, Swingtown looks at life in a Midwestern suburb as the sexual revolution of the 1960s starts to permeate everyday, mainstream, middle-class American life in the '70s. Ultimately, the quality of the series will rise or fall on how committed the producers are to exploring the sociology -- as well as the sexuality -- of the times. So far, it looks like lots of sex -- not so much social anthropology.

As "Blondie," the comic strip, turns 61 today, there's big news on her job search: Dagwood's better half is becoming a caterer."Dagwood is such a food fan. We thought it would jibe nicely," explains Amanda Hass, spokeswoman for King Features Syndicate Group.And who better to ask about pleasing the palate than Gail Kaplan and Ansela Dopkin of the Classic Catering People in Owings Mills. The duo are expected to turn up on "ABC World News This Morning" and possibly even "Good Morning America" next week giving advice to the former full-time homemaker.

Just after Blondie released its first album, way back in 1976, its record company was desperate to convince people that the name referred to the whole band and not just its stunning, platinum-tressed singer, Deborah Harry. So the company launched a small ad campaign, complete with buttons and posters, proclaiming that "Blondie Is a Group."Now, of course, Blondie is no longer a group. In fact, it hasn't been one for a dozen years or so. Yet the band's influence has never been stronger -- especially in Britain, where bands ranging from Echobelly to Elastica have paid overt or implicit tribute to Blondie's sound.

This bulletin just in.Next month Blondie Bumstead, wife of Dagwood Bumstead and mother of Alexander and Cookie Bumstead, will take a job outside the home.In the World of Comics, this is big news.King Features Syndicate Group, which distributes the strip to more than 2,000 newspapers -- including The Sunday Sun and The Evening Sun -- describes Blondie's decision to enter the workplace as "the biggest thing to happen to an American icon since Superman got married."It's certainly a profound change in her lifestyle.

Dagwood Bumstead, who rocked the cartoon world recently when he left his office job of 59 years to work for his wife, has been fired after only two weeks, The Sun has learned.Mr. Bumstead, commenting in the comic strip in which he co-stars, says in this week's Sunday episode that his wife, Blondie, who has a catering business, fired him because he was "eating up all her profits."Mr. Bumstead apparently is going to return to work for his old employer, J. C. Dithers, the George Steinbrenner of the private sector, who has fired him hundreds of times since he was hired in 1933.

It's 1978, and New York City, in fact the world, has disco fever. Concurrently, new wave, the pop-friendlier side of punk, is taking shape. And Blondie, an experimental band on the city's underground rock scene, leads the movement. The sextet -- which is fronted by a former Playboy Bunny with two-toned bottle-blond hair named Debbie Harry -- makes its mainstream breakthrough with the release of Parallel Lines. By the end of the year, the album, which spawns the international No. 1 smash "Heart of Glass," tops the charts and quickly sells 2 million copies.

On July 26, 2005, SALONIA BLONDZELLA COOK. She leaves a bereaved husband Enoch Robinson Cook, Jr.; a son Enoch Robinson Cook, III.; a community of friends and family who loved her. Salonia was addressed as Blondie in her younger years; short for Blondie from the comic character "Blondie and Dagwood." Salonia or Blondie was born the daughter of James Waters and Rosa Williams of Baltimore City on May 14, 1918. Blondie, F.D.H.S., Alumni, F-'39, had a lust for life and believed in living life fully, but not hording it illustrated by being flamboyant, a community activist and an active church board member.

Salonia Blondzella "Blondie" Cook, a retired teacher's aide and North Baltimore community activist, died of congestive heart failure at her Hoes Heights home July 26. She was 87. Salonia Blondzella Waters was born in Baltimore and raised on Division Street. She was a 1939 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School and earned a diploma at the old Cortez W. Peters Business School. She was an aide at what was then Booker T. Washington and Roland Park junior highs before retiring about 20 years ago. She was a former vice president and board member of the Hoes Heights Improvement Organization, for the small neighborhood north of Hampden In 1989 she became a vocal critic of development of the old Green Spring Dairy property as a shopping center.

On July 26, 2005, SALONIA BLONDZELLA COOK. She leaves a bereaved husband Enoch Robinson Cook, Jr.; a son Enoch Robinson Cook, III.; a community of friends and family who loved her. Salonia was addressed as Blondie in her younger years; short for Blondie from the comic character "Blondie and Dagwood." Salonia or Blondie was born the daughter of James Waters and Rosa Williams of Baltimore City on May 14, 1918. Blondie, F.D.H.S., Alumni, F-'39, had a lust for life and believed in living life fully, but not hording it illustrated by being flamboyant, a community activist and an active church board member.

Address: www.popstrology.com What's the point?: Forget celestial stars -- the star charts on this site help visitors gain "self-knowledge by examining the alignment of the pop music charts on the date of [their] birth." Read up on the terminology (Birthstars, Birthsongs, Constellations and Dominant Songs) in the Popstrology 101 section, then get started and enter your birth year and find your birthdate. Born between July 27 and Aug. 23, 1980? Then you're an Olivia Newton-John in the Year of Blondie.

While historic landmarks like Penn's Landing and the Liberty Bell are still main attractions in Philadelphia, the city has a lot more to offer than a history lesson. South Street in historic downtown Philly is one place that draws thousands of visitors every day, from all walks of life, thanks to its beautiful murals, specialty boutiques and eateries that sell the famous Philly cheese steaks. With unconventional shops and a variety of restaurants, there is more than enough to do in one day on South Street, for everyone from the daytime shopper to the late-night partier (many locations don't close until 2 a.m.)

Blondie came to catch ice cubes from the mouth of her best friend, hoping to become a star. Rio delicately retrieved treats with her crushing black beak. Ulzar cleared the high jump at 3 feet and spun around in glee. All came with their owners to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium for a shot at TV fame yesterday, as the World Pets Expo held auditions for Animal Planet's new talent show for the furry and feathered. About 30 aspiring pets and their owners showed up to vie for spots on the TV show Pet Star, which made its debut on the cable channel Friday.

Theirs was a nation ravaged by war. But after defeat, the Japanese were eager to rebuild, inspired in part by an unlikely couple: Dagwood and Blondie. The cartoon makes an appearance in New Beginnings: Japan in the Immediate Postwar Years, 1945 -- 1949. The exhibition, on display at Central Enoch Pratt Free Library through Dec. 29, uses vibrant illustrations, photographs and thoughtful commentary to show how the process of democratizing an ancient nation went hand in hand with introducing its citizenry to modern American culture.

LA LaVern Baker,67, whose hits "Tweedle-Dee" and "Jim Dandy" put her at the top of the rhythm and blues charts in the 1950s and earned her a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, died Monday at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. She had suffered from diabetes and had both legs amputated below the knee two years ago.Stan Drake,75, a cartoonist who illustrated "Blondie" and created the classic romance strip "The Heart of Juliet Jones," died Monday in Norwalk, Conn. In 1989, he turned the romance strip over to Frank Bolle to devote his time to illustrating "Blondie," created in 1930 by Chic Young and seen in thousands of newspapers worldwide in 55 languages.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Sept.8In 1565, a Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in North America at present-day St. Augustine, Fla.In 1664, the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who renamed it New York.In 1892, an early version of "The Pledge of Allegiance" appeared in the Youth's Companion.In 1900, Galveston, Texas, was struck by a hurricane that killed about 6,000 people.In 1920, New York-to-San Francisco air mail service was inaugurated.In 1921, Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was crowned the first Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J.In 1930, the comic strip "Blondie" first appeared.

Bill Clinton isn't the only public figure trying to make a fresh start these days. Blondie, the most successful band punk ever produced, has just released its first new album in 17 years. Likewise, the hip-hop trio TLC is hoping that after five years of silence, its fans haven't forgotten how crazy, sexy and cool they are. But the biggest blast from the past comes from Jimi Hendrix, who may be seen in a whole new light thanks to previously unreleased performances by his Band of Gypsys.Send this in a plain brown wrapperTLC`Fan Mail' (LaFace/Arista 73008-26055)

LA LaVern Baker,67, whose hits "Tweedle-Dee" and "Jim Dandy" put her at the top of the rhythm and blues charts in the 1950s and earned her a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, died Monday at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan. She had suffered from diabetes and had both legs amputated below the knee two years ago.Stan Drake,75, a cartoonist who illustrated "Blondie" and created the classic romance strip "The Heart of Juliet Jones," died Monday in Norwalk, Conn. In 1989, he turned the romance strip over to Frank Bolle to devote his time to illustrating "Blondie," created in 1930 by Chic Young and seen in thousands of newspapers worldwide in 55 languages.