News and views and issues and previews (and other words that rhyme with “news”).

Recently, I moved back to Mississippi after spending a year in Atlanta working on a writing project. I’m now ensconced in my next writing venture–editing the fascinating memoir of a woman born and bred here in the Delta–but alas, other obligations have fallen to the wayside in the meantime.

As such, you may have noticed that posting has been somewhat sporadic of late, as has my commenting on other folks’ blogs. But thanks to the wonders of Google Reader, I’ve at least been able to keep up with my reading, and there have been some particularly great posts as of late … for instance, John Greco’s interesting look at one of Hepburn and Tracy’s minor comedies, Desk Set, at Twenty Four Frames; Rianna’s classic movie survey over at Frankly, My Dear (which I wish I had the time to complete); Angela’s synopsis of an evening with Gene Kelly’s daughter at The Hollywood Revue; Raquelle’s entertaining interview with Harpo Marx’s son, Bill, author of the appropriately titled Son of Harpo Speaks! (which she also reviewed in a separate post at Out of the Past); and so, so many others. For more good reading, our favorite bloggers are linked on the sidebar–check them out!

Thankfully, the next few months are burgeoning with the promise of new material and motivation, especially in light of four upcoming blogathons with some fascinating topics.

On February 19th, the Classic Film & TV Cafe kicks off their “Classic Movie Dogathon.” Participants will be focusing on classic films featuring notable canine performances or profiling famed canine actors. As part of our Saturday Morning Cartoons series, I’ll be posting a look back at the evolution of Mickey Mouse’s number-one pal, Pluto, and highlighting a number of animated shorts featuring the lovable pooch.

On March 9th, Jessica from Comet Over Hollywood is hosting the “Gone Too Soon” blogathon. This event will highlight performers who sadly died way too soon (the cut-off criteria is the age of 50). I’ve signed up to contribute a post about Bobby Driscoll, the young star of live-action Disney films such as Song of the South (1946) and Treasure Island (1950), who died at the age of 31 after an abbreviated adulthood marked by drug abuse.

I was honored to be asked by Sittin’ on a Backyard Fence’s Jill to contribute a piece to her “March-in-March” celebration of actor Fredric March. I will be writing a post on March’s volatile collaboration with temperamental actress Veronica Lake in 1942’s I Married a Bitch … er, Witch.

Finally, the subject for the annual For the Love of Film blogathon has been announced. This year, the event will be held from May 13-18, and all donations raised during the blogathon will go toward establishing online streaming of, and the recording of a new score for, The White Shadow (1923), directed by Graham Cutts (with everything else done by Alfred Hitchcock). The film, long thought to be lost, was rediscovered in August 2011 by the National Film Preservation Foundation. The topics for the blogathon can range from silent film preservation and scoring of silent films in general, to any Hitchcock-related subject. Still don’t know what I’ll be writing about, but this is a good opportunity for me to catch up on Hitch’s British work!

In addition to these events, we have several other posts on tap, including more entries in our ongoing “Who’s That Girl?” feature, a couple of “Feminist Friday” posts, and the continuation of our “Pioneers of Animation” spotlight for the Saturday Morning Cartoons series. So stay tuned!