NEWS from me

July 20, 2002 · 5:15 PM PDT · link

TO THOSE of you who check in here for links to political-type articles, we recommend this piece in the New York Press. And we recommend that you keep in mind that this is what is being said in a usually-conservative venue. Folks who might usually be expected to be Bush supporters seem to be smelling disaster and hurrying to get out in front of the story.

July 20, 2002 · 11:00 AM PDT · link

WE'VE RECEIVED word that Gene Moss has passed away. Who, some of you may be asking yourself, was Gene Moss? Well, if you grew up in Los Angeles in the late sixties, you may remember him for his deathless portrayal of Dr. Von Schtick on the old Shrimpenstein TV show on KHJ, Channel Nine. You'll want to read the NOTES from me about him.

July 19, 2002 · 11:00 PM PDT · link

WHO SAYS the Democrats don't have a candidate for 2004? What about James Traficant? Truly, he is the man who can unite America...the one man about whom people from all walks of life agree. He'll scare the hell out of terrorists. They'll know he's capable of doing just about any stupid thing. And Congress won't have to waste time investigating our Chief Executive's past business dealings. His have already been exposed as illegal and he can just pardon himself and say, "The people knew I was a crook when they elected me."

He's a great, inspirational leader. Abraham Lincoln said, "Fourscore and seven years ago..." "John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you." James Traficant said, "I'm having some rectal disorder because of this." When President George W. Bush makes a speech, the stock market plunges. When President James Traficant makes a speech, the stock market may still plunge but at least, we can all laugh at his haircut while it does.

I'm telling you, the man can win. Bring back Bob Dornan as his running mate and let them campaign on the Loose Cannon platform.

You can look elsewhere if you want, but me...I've found my candidate. Traficant in 2004. We've done worse.

THREE OF YOU wrote to remind me that Roger Broughton's small press comic book company is reprinting old Herbie comics in black-and-white. I guess what I meant was that the comic probably won't get reprinted in a quality, full-color volume.

July 19, 2002 · 11:30 AM PDT · link

MY BUDDY Scott Shaw! features the indomitable Herbie Popnecker today over on his Oddball Comics page. Like everyone who ever picked up a copy of Herbie, I have an odd, hard-to-explain affection for The Fat Fury. His strip was not exactly a humor comic but it also wasn't exactly not a humor comic...a book done with a deadpan silliness that no one has ever been able to replicate and which, likely, no one ever will. It's another comic that someone ought to reprint but, I suspect, no one ever will.

July 19, 2002 · 1:00 AM PDT · link

OKAY, so the Ethics Committee has voted unanimously to kick James Traficant out of Congress. That's bad because he's been such a source of entertainment. But it's good because he gets to make a speech before the entire House defending himself. The rules say he's entitled to 30 minutes but he's requested eight hours. I say, make it a series! We're setting the TiVo for this one, folks.

MY LONGTIME PAL Joe Brancatelli continues to write good pieces on what's wrong with the airline industry. Check out his latest at his website.

HEY, REMEMBER those Post Grape Nuts commercials with the Burke Family? The one where the boy friend said, "Mrs. Burke! I thought you were Dale"? Of course, you do. Well, the Burke family has set up this website to recall those TV spots. Give it a look.

PEOPLE WITH TOO MUCH FREE TIME: Number one in a series.

I'VE MADE a few small changes in the list of Panels I'm Hosting at Comic-Con International...just updating a few of the panel participants. And yes, I know I haven't posted much lately. This will change.

July 18, 2002 · 2:30 AM PDT · link

IT'S OFFICIAL: Jason Alexander and Martin Short starring in the Los Angeles company of The Producers. Here's the story.

I DIDN'T LIKE the first broadcast of Phil Donahue's new show on MSNBC. But I liked it a little more Tuesday and even more Wednesday. Someone ought to tell this man that, since he's doing short segments, he can't ask eleven minute questions of his guests. But unlike most TV talkers, he does seem more interested in issues than theatrics so I'm going to stick with this one for at least a few more days.

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT there was nothing a member of our House of Representatives could do to further embarrass that august body, along comes James Traficant. I must say, he's really outdoing himself. It's like the scene in Woody Allen's Bananas where the dictator goes off the deep end and declares that all underwear is to be worn on the outside. He also seems to be flaunting an anal obsession. Here's a line from the AP coverage of Traficant's speech the other day before the House Ethics Committee...

He declared he wanted to "kick the ass" of the businessman who claimed to have owned him, that he was "having some rectal disorder because of this," and that an FBI witness could have had a "small microphone up his rectum."

Now, are those the words of a statesman or what? He's now promising that if he goes to prison, he'll run for re-election from his cell and win. I may move to Ohio and vote for him.

JUST TO REMIND YOU: I've posted a list of the panels I'm hosting at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. Here it is.

THE INTERVIEW I did with Paul Harris on his splendid radio show earlier this week is now available for on-line listening on Paul's website. Here's a link to a page with it and a number of vastly more interesting chats.

July 17, 2002 · 12:30 AM PDT · link

HENRY GOODMAN, who was unceremoniously fired from the lead role of The Producers on Broadway, has given his first post-ousting interview. Here's a link to the entire article which, we warn you, will only be online for a limited time. And here's the most relevant quote from the interview...

"Personally, I think they blew it. Of course they'd say, 'No, no Henry, you blew it.' I just wanted the freedom to deepen my character, make him darker, more like Zero Mostel (who played the part in the original 1968 film). Just look at these letters" — he chucks down a sheaf of fan mail — "the bookings were fine. The fact is, 60,000 people saw me and no one asked for their money back. But they wanted a clone of Nathan and I wasn't prepared to give them that."

I never saw Mr. Goodman in the show and my friends who did seemed quite divided about his performance...which may be a matter of differing tastes but it may be that he was evolving in the show. Either way, you have to wonder: What the hell happened here? If ever a show had its choice of leading men, it was The Producers. Henry Goodman was not cast because they were desperate and had to take someone and pray he'd improve. He auditioned, they liked him, they signed him and...what? You have to suspect that if they wanted a clone of Nathan Lane, they hired Goodman because that's what he was showing them and then he decided to deviate from what he was hired to do.

AMAZING TALES OF THE INTERNET: Last evening at 6 PM, I posted the previous message, lamenting the absence of canned Canada Dry Ginger Ale in Los Angeles markets. At 10:30, just four and a half hours later, my phone rang and a mysterious woman's voice said, "Look on your front step." I did...and found two 12-packs of Canada Dry Ginger Ale. In cans.

There was a note from the owner of the mysterious voice giving her phone number. I called and found myself talking to a lady friend from almost 20 years ago...someone I haven't spoken to for at least ten. Turns out, she's a regular browser of this site and she read my plaintive cry just before her regular shopping trip to a nearby Ralph's Market. While there, she decided to complain to the manager on my behalf and he explained to her that they stopped carrying 6-packs of Canada Dry Ginger Ale a few weeks ago...but that they've been waiting for, and had just received, the new 12-packs. (They didn't tell me this at my Ralph's when I inquired.) So she bought two, swung by here and deposited them on the porch of a house in which she hoped I still lived.

So I now have cans of Canada Dry Ginger Ale in the fridge...and I know where to get more when those are gone. Thank you, Sherry.

July 16, 2002 · 6:00 PM PDT · link

I'M PUTTING OUT an All-Points Bulletin for Canada Dry Ginger Ale in cans. It has mysteriously disappeared from the shelves of all the markets I frequent in Los Angeles, leaving my favorite beverage available only in clunky, hard-to-handle plastic bottles. As I mentioned in this article, I am often annoyed by the choices made by local supermarkets and by the fact that they all seem to move as one. Ralph's drops an item and, almost immediately, Von's drops it, Gelson's drops it, Albertson's drops it, etc. This seems to have occurred with six-packs of Canada Dry. If you live in L.A. and see 'em anywhere, let me know.

SHOWS IN LAS VEGAS seem to either run forever or disappear quickly. All the ones discussed over on our Las Vegas Guide still seem up and running but quite a few have come and gone since the last time I was in that burg, a little over a year ago. This means new shows opening all the time to fill empty showrooms.

A friend of mine in a show there tells me of a show that, word has it, is trying to get its act together so it can inhabit one of those showrooms. It's called Bare on Broadway and it will feature nude women performing in numbers from classic musical comedies. The idea, I guess, is to try and appeal to heterosexual men who like show tunes. Hey, I'll buy a ticket but I have a feeling I'll be kinda lonely in the audience. I suspect some composers and their publishing companies will refuse Grand Rights permissions but imagine: "Tits and Ass" (from A Chorus Line) performed with real tits and ass...

July 16, 2002 · 2:30 PM PDT · link

THE LATE Bernie Krigstein didn't do a lot of comic books that you've heard of but, at least in his middle period, he was one of the most amazing storytellers the field has ever known. His early work showed signs of a decent (not great) artist struggling with the form, the nature of the material, the handicaps of mass production, etc. His later work for Dell and other companies, isn't covered in the book I'm plugging here but may be in a sequel. It seemed to be the output of an artist who was going wildly experimental on material that didn't always lend itself to innovation.

But his middle period, working as one of the artists at EC Comics, is fascinating. And the subject of a superb new book. B. Krigstein, Vol. 1, by Greg Sadowski. It's part bio, part art book and, for the student of comic art, a must-have. (It's also, at fifty bucks, a bit steep...but you can order it for $35 from Amazon.Com by clicking here and, if you do, this site gets a tiny cut.)

You can read more about the book and its subject in this review that's running in the current New Yorker. It's written by my buddy Art Spiegelman who has, himself, done some amazing things with the notion of making drawings on a printed page tell a story. I'll write some more here about Krigstein when I get a moment.

July 16, 2002 · 10:30 AM PDT · link

GOOD MORNING. Here's an article in the L.A. Times about animators (and other creators) doing voices in their own cartoons.

AND FOR THOSE following the whole matter of our president's past financial dealings, here's a link to "Notes on a Native Son," an article that Joe Conason did more than two years ago for Harper's. Generally ignored at the time, it is now being cited in most pieces about how Bush amassed his wealth.

SOMEONE wrote to ask what political web sites are worth daily visits. A good place to start would be to bookmark these two warring (but generally sane) weblogs which reference other sites and articles thereupon. The Conservative site is The Corner, which is maintained by The National Review. Its Liberal, opposite number is Tapped, which is brought to you by The American Prospect. Both are updated several times a day and from them, you'll find links to other pages you may wish to frequent.

July 16, 2002 · 3:30 AM PDT · link

THOUGHTS JUST BEFORE BEDTIME: Well, only days after I posted that message about Spyware, I had to cleanse my system of two such components. This afternoon, while searching for a better piece of software via which to track and record my eBay purchases, I ventured into some new software sites. Before I knew it, one of them had forcibly installed a couple of search bars for Internet Explorer. I got suspicious, did some sleuthing and found that I now had two programs I didn't want on my computer, running and intermittently phoning home with God-knows-what-data. They're gone now but I'm keeping both eyes open for similar invasions of my privacy. It's a jungle out there.

CAUGHT the first episode of Phil Donahue's new MSNBC show. He spent an hour talking and, between breaths, allowing his guests to say something...but since one of them was Pat Buchanan, that wasn't necessarily bad. Buchanan was on to decry the Pledge of Allegiance decision and for some reason, he kept saying, "Our children are now forbidden to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school" and Donahue never said, "No, just the part about One Nation Under God." I'm still searching for a debate show host who corrects his guests when they say silly stuff like that.

I WAS IN A VIDEO STORE the other day where someone had filled a shelf with DVDs but put them in backwards. Ergo, the spine on every one read, "Security Device Enclosed." Very helpful. It got me to thinking: What will happen if someone produces a movie called Security Device Enclosed? This comes from the same part of my brain that responds when I drive down that block on Hollywood Boulevard where there's a store that advertises "All items, 99 cents" and on the opposite side of the road, there's a shop that proclaims, "All items, 98 cents." I always think, "Price war!" and imagine people telling the clerk, "No thanks, I can buy it cheaper across the street."

I've gotta get to bed. Sweet dreams, Websurfers.

July 15, 2002 · 4:30 PM PDT · link

INTERESTING article in The Observer (a British paper) asking why the American press is just now noticing some of George W. Bush's shady business past. I still don't think Bush will get or lose a second term based on this kind of thing...but I do think that we're in for an avalanche of scandals and charges of financial impropriety. Eventually, the notion that Bush screwed over countless people to make his fortune will be as much a "fact" as the notion that Clinton screwed countless women. I also think some of the president's men will soon be vacating the premises. Here's the link to the article.

AND HEY, could James Traficant be making a bigger jerk of himself? There's something oddly fascinating about a man who seems to get up every morning and ask himself, "Hmm...there may still be one or two people out there with an ounce of respect for me. What can I do today to disabuse them of that idea?" We call this The Mike Tyson Syndrome. Go, Jim!

July 14, 2002 · 9:30 PM PDT · link

READER Joe Marchese confirms...

RE: Fiddler on the Roof, you've got it right, and the L.A. Times got it wrong. Luther Adler did indeed fill Zero Mostel's rather large shoes as Fiddler's second Tevye, first while Mostel was on vacation (1/18/65-1/30/65). He then took over the role on 8/15/65. While I don't have the date that Adler wrapped up his run, Herschel Bernardi didn't take over until November 8, '65.

Good to know. This is interesting because, when Mostel left Fiddler, it was reportedly with a near-certainty that he was the show and it would not long survive without him. And of course, it did close...seven years later.

MY DULCET TONES will be heard on the Paul Harris radio extravaganza tomorrow afternoon (Monday) around 1:30 Central Time. Our topic will be my bizarre experiences working on the Pink Lady TV show, some 22 years ago. Paul broadcasts on station KTRS, aka "The Big 550" in St. Louis and you can hear excerpts on his site, which is located at www.harrisonline.com. Wish I could hear him on L.A. radio. He's an enormously entertaining interviewer.

ADDED another raccoon photo to the bottom of the fifth page of My Backyard.

July 14, 2002 · 3:45 AM PDT · link

WELL, I THOUGHT I was going to bed but I got caught up in writing something else, and then I spent about fifteen minutes taking raccoon photos which I'll post in the next day or so. Mainly, I wanted to mention that the Los Angeles Times has a fine article up about my pal Brad Oscar, who's starring on Broadway in The Producers. Here's the link and, if you have some version of the accursed Real Player installed, you can view two video clips from the show. There's also a sidebar piece there on what Nathan and Matthew have been up to.

Two questions about the piece: Did Herschel Bernardi really follow Zero Mostel into the lead of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway? I always thought he came later and the first replacement Tevye was Luther Adler. Also, how come every article about how Henry Goodman was fired from The Producers gives a different amount of money as the pay-off on the balance of his contract?

Okay...now, good night for real.

July 14, 2002 · 2:00 AM PDT · link

THOUGHTS JUST BEFORE BEDTIME: We don't like Spyware. Spyware is software that, once installed on your computer, performs its desired function but also quietly sends info on you to its maker. Somewhere, based on the merchandise you order on-line or the sites you browse or the files you download, someone is building a profile on you, the better to figure out ways to sell you stuff.

Spyware comes in many forms. For instance, there's this seemingly-nifty program called Comet Cursor which some websites attempt to install on your computer. Its ostensible function is to give you a selection of colorful, customized cursors but it also, on the sly, collects and transmits info on you. We detect and remove programs like this by using a fine, free program called Ad-Aware which you can download here.

Trouble is, some spyware can't easily be ousted from your hard disk. The new version of Real Player is called Real One Player. You need it to hear a number of terrific audio files on websites but Real One Player is quite invasive. Unless you turn off certain of its functions, it's forever gathering info on you and sending you bulletins to try and lure you to their websites. If you install it, pay particular attention to which features you're enabling and turn off anything that involves instant updates and control of non-Real Media file types. It'll still be a nosey, intrusive program but at least it won't take over your entire system

CERTIFIED Groo Expert Gary Grossmann says that, with the wrap-up of the latest Groo mini-series, there have now been 4,434 pages of Groo stories, 280 pages of text (letter columns, etc.) and 185 covers on American Groo comics, plus another 58 covers done for foreign or non-Groo publications. I find this scary.

AS MENTIONED earlier, Dennis Miller Live has been cancelled, at least by HBO. Some of its writers are cruising the Internet, trying to rally support and petitions and, while I don't think that usually works, it also doesn't hurt. In the meantime, we have more thoughts about the show over in NOTES from me.

DO YOU OWN A TiVo? If not, skip this item. If so: Do you know about the 30 second skip? This is an undocumented feature that you can have on your TiVo once you've received the 3.0 software update, which you probably have by now. To enable the command, you should be playing live TV. Then, on your remote, press Select, then Play, then Select, then the number three, then the zero, then Select again. After some of those presses, you'll hear a drumbeat sound but at the end, if you've done it correctly, you'll hear three bells. Now, if you're playing a program and you want to leap ahead thirty seconds, just press the "jump to the end" key. Press it four times and you zip through two minutes of laxative commercials. While you're in Fast Forward, the button will advance you to the next tick-mark. Neat. (If you reboot or have a power failure, you may need to re-enter these commands. Also, you can put things back the way they were before by entering the same codes again. There's also an undocumented command that allows you to sort the "Now Playing" screen alphabetically but I can't imagine why anyone would want to.)

HEY, DO ME A FAVOR. If you send me a question or comment in e-mail, please tell me if it's okay for me to post it and respond here in public. Thanks and good night.

July 13, 2002 · 8:00 PM PDT · link

YES, I SAW that Pink Lady and Jeff, a show I worked on long ago and far away, made TV Guide's list of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time. It clocked in at #35 and I think I'm annoyed that it wasn't either higher or lower. And I'll continue this train of thought over in another one of our NOTES from me.

Click here to read the previous NEWS FROM ME