Devlin Thompson called my attention to this treasure: In 1969, ABC (briefly) aired a music-variety show that was supposed to feature the hottest current musical acts and some new, young comedians. Music Scene didn't last long but the WFMU blog has posted video clips of the last episode, co-hosted by David Steinberg and, of all people, Groucho Marx. This is well worth a few of your clicks.
Monthly Archives: July 2008
Even More Highly Recommended Reading
And speaking of The New Yorker, I should link to the piece by Seymour Hersh which describes efforts to get us to war with Iran. Those efforts reportedly included discussions of the U.S. faking some incident that would make it look like Iranians attacked us. Yeah, like we ever need a reason to go to war.
Recommended Reading
Here's an article I've waited a long time to read. Charles Van Doren was a big winner on the famously-rigged TV game program, Twenty-One. The Robert Redford movie, Quiz Show, was mainly about him. For years, people have told the story of Professor Van Doren and dramatized and fictionalized it but he steadfastly declined to speak for himself. He wouldn't give interviews. He declined all offers to write the story from his perspective.
But now he has. In the current New Yorker, he tells the tale…and I tend to believe his account. Since almost everyone involved is deceased, it would not have been difficult for him to spin some aspects of it to be more favorable to him. He does not do this — nor does he argue as some have that the "scandal" was way overblown — leading me to trust the accuracy of what he writes.
Go Read It!
Memories from the Peanut Gallery on the old Howdy Doody show. Thanks to Barry Mitchell for letting me know about it.
Today's Video Link
This is great. We're all fans of Tom Lehrer here, right? Of course. And so you're probably familiar with a song he wrote and recorded called "New Math." In it, Mr. Lehrer — a mathematician by trade — explained that cumbersome way of handling numbers in the sixties. Well, in this clip, he was in London performing on The Frost Report starring David Frost, and he came up with a nice variation on "New Math" to explain the frightening conflict of U.S. and British currency. Have a look 'n' listen…
Recommended Reading
Timothy Noah attempts to make sense of all of John McCain's conflicting votes and statements about tax cuts. It pretty much comes down to this: If you want to be the Republican nominee for president, you have to take a blood oath that you will not raise any tax anywhere at any time, and that's been McCain's position all along except when it hasn't been and those times don't count because he says they don't.
The Nutty Gun Smuggler
As explained here, Jerry Lewis was stopped at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport because he seemed to have a gun in his carry-on luggage. It was explained that this was a prop that couldn't be fired. A police spokesperson said that if it was indeed a prop, "it wouldn't be a weapon and we couldn't cite him for carrying a weapon."
What is wrong with this picture? Isn't it illegal to carry even a prop gun on a plane? I mean, this thing was realistic enough that someone thought it was a genuine firearm. If you pulled it out during a flight, you could cause an awful lot of panic and trouble even if it couldn't fire. People often hijack planes with guns that turn out to be unloaded and incapable of firing.
There probably aren't many folks who want to see Mr. Lewis tossed in the pokey…but we also don't like to read in the news that it's not a crime to take a prop gun onto a plane. And of course, we don't like to see some break the law, doing something that would land you or me behind bars, and go free just because they're famous.
Today's Video Link
Here's eight or so minutes of shaky video from the Cartoon Voices Panel we did on Saturday at the Comic-Con. Earl Kress and I introduce the panelists and run down a few of their credits, especially Chuck McCann's.
Spending Sprees
It was shocking to learn, once upon a time, that John Edwards paid $200 apiece for his haircuts. In fact, that was a reason unto itself to not vote for the guy. It showed he was vain, lacking in values, wasteful and completely out of touch with the common man.
I guess we're now going to see all the same people make all the same accusations about John McCain. It's been revealed that he routinely wears Salvatore Ferragamo Pregiato Moccasins that cost $520 a pair. I'll bet the folks on Fox News are already denouncing him for this.
Answering Machine Messages of the Stars
Here's another one of these from back in the days when I used to get great cartoon voice actors to record messages for my answering machine. The one a few weeks ago was, of course, the legendary Daws Butler warbling away as Huckleberry Hound. Here, we have a cat with the voice of the late, lovely Lorenzo Music…
Go Read It!
Roger Ebert bids farewell to the movie review show he co-hosted with Gene Siskel and later with Richard Roeper. I wonder how many people in this country adopted the movie-picking policies of a couple of friends of mine. It was to scratch off their possible viewing list any film which either TV critic gave the old "thumbs down." My buddy Dave once explained, "I can only spare the time for a certain number of movies per month. If I pick from the list of those both guys liked, I have more than enough to pick from."
Comic-Con Uncoverage
The Playboy website (as in Playboy Magazine) sent a crew to cover the Comic-Con. Over on this page, you can see a pictorial feature of what they call "the hottest babes at Comic-Con." I might argue their tastes but it still amazes me that they could get that many photos even vaguely in that category. I can remember a time when a gallery of all the women at the Comic-Con would have consisted of photos of June Foray and Mrs. Jack Kirby.
Also on that page is a pretty lame video interview of the costumed folks, largely unable to answer any questions about their characters' sex lives, as well as other pix shot at the event.
More Comic-Con Memories
More of this stuff…
- Someone came up to me with a page of original art he'd purchased elsewhere (i.e., not at the convention) and asked me to authenticate it. "People are telling me it's a forgery," he said. "But I know it isn't and if I have you backing me up, I think I can convince them." The fellow was upset that I felt I couldn't back him up. I wasn't sure it was counterfeit but I certainly wasn't certain in the other direction. He grudgingly thanked me for my time, then went off in search of someone else who'd tell him what he wanted to hear.
- We had a good turnout for our panel on how to become a cartoon voice actor. Earl Kress and I co-hosted a discussion of the nuts 'n' bolts of the business with two successful actors — Gregg Berger and Bob Bergen — and two of the top agents. The agents were Cynthia McLean and Mary Ellen Lord, who are with SBV, a firm that represents some of the best, workingest voice performers in the business. The panelists gave some hard, pragmatic info to an appreciative audience. Sorry if you missed it but Gregg was interviewed recently on some of the same topics and you can read his valuable advice here.
- Several people thanked me for my totally accurate weather forecast.
- We had animation producer-writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears on a couple of panels, and audiences were pretty excited to meet the guys who gave the world Scooby Doo, Thundarr the Barbarian, Dynomutt and so many more. That's one of the great things about the Comic-Con: Turning the spotlight on folks whose recognition has not quite matched their achievements.
- I didn't make it to Preview Night but everyone who did told me it was no less crowded than any day of the convention…maybe more crowded. Well, of course: There's no programming or panels that evening to take X thousand people off the main floor. I've learned to accept and live with the packed aisles of the Comic-Con. It's just a fact of life and nothing is gained by moaning about it. Still, it's sad those few hours of the con — the period that used to have a nice, relaxed feel to it — has gone away.
And I think that's it for this go-round. Sorry if I still owe you an e-mail. Lots more catching-up to do…
5.8 Earthquake in Southern California
It's that Gay Marriage thing, I tell you. God is pissed.
UPDATE: They're now saying 5.4. If it gets to 5.1, sell.
Bruce Adler, R.I.P.
Can't tell you how sorry I was to hear about the passing of Bruce Adler, a great song-and-dance man, Tony nominee and occasional cartoon voice. I only met Mr. Adler once…backstage at the Broadway production of Crazy For You, for which he originated the role of Bela Zangler. And as he was being called away for some purpose, that meeting didn't last much longer than the time it took for me to tell him what a fan I was of his work, especially his CD/records, A Night in the Yiddish Music Hall, Parts One and Two. He was very, very good and I wish I could give you a link that would let you see or hear him at his best.
What I can offer you is this link to a page at the agency that represented him. There's a good obit posted there and at the moment, the page plays one of Bruce Adler's recordings — unfortunately, not one of his Yiddish Theater ones. [Warning: Music starts instantly.] Also, I'm embedding a clip of him on Rosie O'Donnell's show performing a number from a revival of the show, Anything Goes. Bruce is the fellow on the left, the lady is (of course) Chita Rivera and the gent on the right is George Dvorsky.