Monday, September 29, 2003

Recommended Reading

Interesting op-ed columns in The New York Times from their liberal columnist, Paul Krugman, and their new conservative columnist, David Brooks. Krugman's is about how the reconstruction of Iraq is making a lot of Bush's friends richer. Brooks writes about how a lot of folks are getting irrational in their hatred of George W. Bush, much as others did when the name of Clinton was (and still is) invoked.

Incidentally: Some people write me that they don't like articles (like the above) linked to websites that require registration. The N.Y. Times site is free and doesn't seem to ever lead to unwanted e-mail. Nevertheless, if that kind of thing worries you, there's an easy answer that I've mentioned before: Get yourself a junk mail address. There are dozens of sites out there that will give you a free e-mail address at their domain. (Hotmail is the most popular. The e-mail sign-up process over at Comic Book Resources is quick and painless.) This will give you a separate e-mail address you can give any time any site asks you to register.

Also, New York Times articles sometimes turn up on Google News. So there's another way to get them if you don't want to register.

• Posted at 10:48 PM · LINK

Goodbye, Mr. Chips!

I'm on a couple of mailing lists for Las Vegas news. I just got one that said the Bellagio Hotel there is discontinuing their $100,000 chips in mid-October. If I have any lying around, I need to go cash them in before then.

Forgive me if posting here is light for the next day or so. I have to go check under the sofa cushions and in my loose change jar.

• Posted at 9:38 PM · LINK

WKRP Stuff

Several of you have informed me that TV Land ran the "Turkeys Away" episode of WKRP in Cincinnati as part of their Friday night tribute to Gordon Jump. Let's all watch for it to be scheduled again.

For those of you interested in the matter of the show's soundtrack alterations, here's a link to a web article that explains it in greater detail than I did. As a few of you have noted, this has also been done with a few songs in sketches on Saturday Night Live reruns.

• Posted at 5:15 PM · LINK

Will Meugniot

One of the great things about doing comic books (and I really do think it makes for better comics) is that you often collaborate with friends. Almost all of my happy experiences in the field have been when the artist was someone I could go to lunch with and have a good time, talking about all sorts of stuff. A perfect example is my pal, Will Meugniot (pronounced "Mineo") with whom I did a lot of comics, most notably The DNAgents. Here's a link to a recent interview with the guy.

• Posted at 4:38 PM · LINK

Broadway Horror Story

Dave Sikula, a good friend of this site, sends the following about the late Donald O'Connor...

Just a note about Mr. O'Connor. I don't know if you saw Bring Back Birdie in its blessedly-brief run, but I was lucky enough to be at the first preview, when the actor's nightmare came true, and everything that could go wrong did. It was a horrifying spectacle, and I wouldn't trade the memory of that night for the world. (My favorite part, among many, was a punk number by a band called Filth. For 1981 Broadway, it was pretty hardcore punk. The number ended and was met with about ten people, out of a full house applauding, and one guy booing loudly. Ah, good times.)

Anyway, O'Connor's big number in the show was called "Middle-Aged Blues." In it, he lamented getting older, since he didn't feel all that much older. At one point in the number, he goes over to the proscenium and looks it up and down, feels it, and looks for all the world like he's going to try the run up the wall from Singin' in the Rain. The crowd, desperate for any entertainment by this point, goes bananas. O'Connor backs away, and goes on with the song. He sings the next verse and does the same thing; over to the proscenium, looks it over, sizes up the possibilities. Crowd goes even wilder.

Finally, he reaches what is obviously the climax of the song, starts over to the proscenium...and walks off stage. End of number.

That encapsulates Bring Back Birdie (along with the number about jogging, and Chita Rivera's big number than consisted of a guy pushing her around on a push broom) better than anything.

Never saw Bring Back Birdie, the short-lived sequel to Bye Bye, Birdie. I do recall a friend of mine calling me from a pay phone in the lobby during intermission of one performance. He said, "It's another one of those shows that is about one-fifth as entertaining as if they'd just let the stars do their nightclub acts." He felt that way about the revival of Hellzapoppin' with Jerry Lewis and a few others that don't come to mind at the moment.

• Posted at 3:09 PM · LINK

Sweat Stains of the Stars

Would you like to own the tuxedo or cocktail dress that some big TV star wore to the Emmys or Golden Globes? Would you just like to know their sizes? (Conan O'Brien takes a 42 long) Many are up for bids over on eBay.

• Posted at 2:25 PM · LINK

Pardon Our Dust

As you may be able to tell, we're installing a new design here at news from me. As my luck would have it, the new parts of the template are working just fine but some things have gone screwy with the parts I didn't change. For the next few days, this page may look a bit odd and be in a state of flux. Do not adjust your set.

• Posted at 1:07 AM · LINK

September 30, 2003 • Current • September 28, 2003