Saturday, November 8, 2003

Jim's Big Ego

Last week, National Public Radio did a segment on Jim's Big Ego, which is a rock band fronted by a musician named Jim Infantino. During the piece, Jim mentioned that when he needed someone to draw a cover for his new CD, he called on his Uncle Carmine. That's right: Carmine Infantino, the acclaimed artist of umpteen comic book heroes, including The Flash, Adam Strange, Batman and his favorite, Detective Chimp. The CD, which is entitled They're Everywhere, also features a song called "The Ballad of Barry Allen," which is dedicated to Carmine. (For those of you who've forgotten: Barry Allen was the other identity of The Flash. And will be again, if there's a just and loving God in the heavens.)

You can order the CD over at the Jim's Big Ego website. You can also download an MP3 of any song from it for a buck, plus there's a link to listen to the NPR segment. (Thanks to Rob Means for calling my attention to this.)

• Posted at 8:37 PM · LINK

Say No More...

The best thing I've seen on the Internet lately is Eric Idle's Greedy Bastard Tour Journal. Mr. Idle and a small troupe are traipsing about this continent for a series of one and two-night concerts, performing material from his days with Monty Python, plus other equally-smart songs and sketches. Throughout the ordeal, he has been posting a diary of his experiences, complete with flashbacks to other moments in his life. I expect all of this will be compiled into a book at some point but you can read it for free, one day at a time, by going to this page and scrolling about halfway down. If you start reading at the beginning and go forward, you will probably get hooked and not budge from your monitor for about the next hour. So don't click on that link until you've been to the toilet...unless, of course, that's where your computer is located. As Merv Griffin used to say of every single guest on his show less serious than Everett Dirksen, "He's a funny, funny man!" (Oh, yeah. There's also a tour schedule on that page, plus links to order tickets should The Greedy Bastard be roaming your way.)

• Posted at 4:39 PM · LINK

Joanna Lee, R.I.P.

This obituary for Joanna Lee notes that she was an actress who became a TV writer for shows including Gilligan's Island and The Waltons. And it notes that she became a producer and won awards for TV movies, including "Babe."

But it doesn't mention that she wrote over a dozen episodes of the original prime-time Flintstones series, starting in the show's third season. I'm hesitant to say that makes her the first-ever female writer of animation but at the moment, I can't think of an earlier contender for that title.

• Posted at 12:55 PM · LINK

Profile of Paul

Here's a profile of Paul Levitz, who's the Head Honcho at DC Comics. As Richard Humm (who sent me this link) pointed out, there's one typo in there — the Legion of Super-Heroes is not set in the 13th century. But otherwise, it's a good little piece.