Apart from discussing the wisdom of the Nixon pardon, I don't see a lot of interesting chatter on the web today about former President Gerald Ford, who passed away yesterday. Everyone seems to be using the occasion to advance their particular political cause: Whatever you believe in, his successes or failures were proof of it. I almost suspect this is the last time anyone will have any reason to talk about Gerald Ford.
Most historians say that pardoning Richard M. Nixon (a) cost Ford the 1976 election and (b) was a decision made strictly on the basis of what he believed was right and proper for America. I think I agree with the first one, though I suspect that greater damage was done by the popular media image of Ford — inflamed by Chevy Chase's impressions on Saturday Night Live — of the man as a stumbling idiot. I thought the characterization was unfair but as so often happens with these things, the "victim" sure didn't do a lot to counteract the caricature. And I'm skeptical about the second point. Maybe it was a matter of pure conscience but maybe it was just an attempt to contain the ongoing embarrassment to the Republican party and some of Ford's crony pals, as well. It could even have been both.
Bob Woodward is out today with this article, based on an interview with Ford that was conducted in July of '04. In it, the former Chief Exec says that "very strongly disagreed" with Bush's handling of Iraq, including the fact that we invaded at all. That would be a courageous stance for Ford to take if he'd said it for publication two and half years ago...but what was the point of embargoing it until after his death? Especially since that death could have occurred next year or the year after? It's like Ford was saying, "I feel strongly about this but not strongly enough to have to listen to the criticisms of me for criticizing a current Republican president." If there was any reason for Ford to say it, he should have said it then.
Stan Lee is interviewed on National Public Radio about "realism" in super-hero comics. It runs seven and a half minutes. This will get you in the mood for tomorrow's Stan Lee Day festivities.
I keep getting e-mails asking me to post a photo of myself since the weight reduction surgery. Here's a shot of me at a post-Christmas party last evening surrounded by three very talented men. I'm the tall one. The man on the far left is Ian Whitcomb, the eminent musician and musicologist. Second from the left is Richard Sherman, who (with his brother Robert) wrote most of the great Disney songs, including the tunes for Mary Poppins. At far right is the great satirist and cartoon voice actor, Stan Freberg.
But the most talented person at this party was none of the guys around me. There was a gentleman there making balloon animals out of ordinary skinny balloons, and guests were challenging him to replicate classic cartoon characters. Here we see Jerry Beck — one of the Brewmasters of the fine website, Cartoon Brew — showing us what he got when he asked the balloon artist to whip up a Droopy. And this wasn't even the most amazing balloon creation of the evening. The brilliant glamour artist Olivia De Berardinis, whose stunningly beautiful women appear regularly in Playboy in the old Vargas slot, went home with a balloon likeness of Bettie Page.
The artisan who rose to these challenges was Buster Balloon and here's his website. If you have a party in Southern California and you want an entertainer who'll delight your guests, hire this man. And invite me so I can see him work his magic again. (He also created a Balloon Elvis for someone. If you ferret around on his site, you'll find a photo of him with a similar balloon sculpture.)
Back in my early teen years, I used to make balloon animals at birthday parties for younger kids. I'd make a horsie and then have to tell everyone which of the five possibilities was the head. So I'm in awe of someone who can do it well and Buster is the best I've ever seen. Just had to share that with you all.
I'm not going to embed this because it's an hour and ten minutes long...but some of you might be interested in the video of Stephen Colbert's appearance before the Institute of Politics at Harvard. It's a very good interview and conversation and you can watch it on Google Video on this page.
This is the "Sue Me" number from the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls, which I saw and which was quite a wonderful production. Playing Miss Adelaide is Faith Prince. Playing Nathan Detroit is Nathan Lane. This was before most people knew who Nathan Lane was...and you can see why that situation didn't last long.
December 28, 2006
