Sgt. Bryan Anderson lost three limbs in the Iraq War. Take a moment to read this piece, if not for inspiration then for (perhaps) a more vivid understanding of what that kind of loss can mean.
Here's Jimmy Breslin with a rosy memory of Gerald Ford. Recalling (vaguely) Breslin's book about Watergate which I can't find at the moment, it seems like a rosier portrait than he had of the man then. But that doesn't mean it's not sincere or accurate.
And while you're over there, you might want to read this piece by Breslin about the night Bobby Kennedy was shot. Chilling.
Today is the birthday of Stan Lee...and I don't think I have to throw in any explanation of who Stan Lee is. He's Stan Lee, that's who he is.
I first met Stan in July of 1970. By that, I mean I met him in person, in the offices of Marvel Comics. But of course, I'd met him years earlier in the pages of Marvel Comics and had been so impacted by his cheery editorial style that it didn't feel like meeting someone new. It was like seeing your old pal Stan again, only for the first time.
I'm not sure how you categorize Stan...writer, creator, editor, spokesperson, media legend. Whatever he is, he's the only one of its kind. It's a pleasure to wish him a joyful birthday day and many more.
Incidentally, I said in an item here the other day that Stan receives a nice percentage of revenues from the current spate of Marvel movies. Stan himself dropped me an e-mail to say this isn't so — "I wish," he wrote. But he should. He should also receive royalties every time one of us rips off some element of his style or manner. If he did, it would make the combined revenues of all the Spider-Man and X-Men movies look like chump change.
Anyway, a Happy Stan Lee Day to you all. Take a moment to face front and hang loose. 'Nuff said.
The NBC website has a page called NBC Rewind where they stream full episodes of many of their shows. Usually, they only have one up at a time but at the moment, there are several episodes up of each of several series. The site doesn't seem to run smoothly (neither does NBC) but I did get a couple of the videos to play on my computer, especially when I gave up on Internet Explorer and tried accessing it via Firefox.
This link will take you to the menu where you can pick something to watch if you're so inclined. A couple of folks have written to ask me where they could see Stan Lee's appearance last week on the game show, Identity. Well, you can see it here. Look for Thursday and then look for the second part of the show. The portion with Stan commences a few minutes in.
A year or two ago, there was a wonderful episode of Evening at the Pops on PBS which featured Nathan Lane doing a "Tribute to Danny Kaye." I put that in quotes because I don't think it's much of a tribute to go out there and do most of Kaye's best material (which he didn't write so there's nothing of him on the stage) and to do it, for the most part, better than he did. But it was a fine program and Lane was very, very good. It's one of the shows I've kept on my TiVo for a long time so I could watch it every now and then with just the push of a button. Here's the opening number...
December 29, 2006
