Saturday, January 20, 2007

Flaunt It!

The reviewer for The New York Times doesn't think much of Tony Danza playing Max Bialystock in the Broadway version of The Producers. But I note from the grosses posted over on Playbill that business seems to be up so that may not matter. (Thanks to Bruce Reznick for the N.Y. Times link.)

• Posted at 2:34 PM · LINK

A Bonus Video Link

I can't embed this one but if you'd like to see a four minute video summary of the first four months of a panda's life, click right about here. My Uncle Aaron took 8mm movies of my first few months that are virtually indistinguishable except, of course, that I was cuter.

• Posted at 2:23 PM · LINK

Rich and Powerful

Rich Little tells The New Yorker about his upcoming gig entertaining at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

The gent who made the selection says that the White House didn't complain about last year's Colbert extravaganza. Yeah, but they didn't have to complain. Everyone knew the prez was uncomfy and if you're in charge of that dinner, your number one priority is to make certain the President of the United States is present and doesn't find something more pressing to do that evening. The event derives all of its importance and purpose because the Chief Exec puts in an appearance. Picking someone like Rich Little is cowardly, yes. But I don't think the person making the decision really has a lot of freedom to say, "I want Michael Moore and if Bush doesn't like it, too bad. He doesn't have to show up."

Another point: If you decide to re-watch Colbert's speech, as I did the other day, see if you don't agree with this observation. The audience wasn't that bothered by the shots at Bush. To the extent the mood in the hall turned icy, it was because of Colbert's shots at the Press Corps. Some of them probably complained.

I also don't believe that, as Little claims in the article, Bill Maher wouldn't have him on because, "He didn't want to take the chance that I would be funnier." I mean, I believe Rich Little said that but Maher routinely books Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Ben Affleck and other people you wouldn't let anywhere near your show if you were worried that someone else might be funnier. The reason Maher hasn't booked Rich Little is probably the same reason that the White House Correspondents Assocation did. Oddly enough, Bill might just invite him on because of that boolking.

Thanks to Craig Robin for calling the article to my attention.

• Posted at 1:15 PM · LINK

Additional Thought

On the other hand, I just read an item about how the California presidential primary may get moved way up, maybe becoming the second or third in the land. That might bode well for Hillary Clinton grabbing the Democratic nomination. With the right kind of campaign — and Bill stumping for her — she might do well enough in this state to make her unstoppable. I'm assuming a victory in a California primary would have a lot more impact on the whole contest than winning New Hampshire or some other state with four electoral votes. If it was big enough, might it not give the victor a near-lock as the nominee? Something to consider.

• Posted at 12:49 PM · LINK

Today's Political Musing

Hillary Clinton is entering the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. This comes as good news to a band of folks out there who've made an awful lot of money demonizing her, preying on the view of a small band of citizens who think she's Satan in a pants suit. There's one activist group that's very bad with facts, very good at getting past my Spam trappers. At least twice a month, I get an e-mail that says, in effect, "Everything you value in the world will cease to exist if this woman is not destroyed. Send us lots of cash and we'll stop her." Those people must be turning cartwheels right now and starting the mass mailings.

This is just a gut feeling on my part but I don't think their efforts will be necessary. I don't think she'll get that near the nomination. She's not a very dynamic speaker and I suspect a lot of folks who otherwise might be inclined to vote for her would prefer someone who didn't come with so much baggage. It's kind of the way a lot of the loyalest Republicans now view George W. Bush.

Of course, I also don't think Obama, Biden, Kucinich and the rest of the announced or presumed contenders have that much more appeal than Ms. Clinton. The shallowness of the Talent Pool is evident when the Democrat who looks the most like presidential material is Al Gore. And some of that will just be a matter of voters wanting to turn back the clock, wipe out the previous eight years and vote for the guy they now think they really wanted in the first place. Gore was right on the Iraq War and it's now becoming near-fact (sadly) that he's right about Global Warming. In politics, if you're right about two important things, you're way ahead of the average. Like, by about two things.

• Posted at 10:18 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

This is a real short one...

As we all know, there is nothing in the world cuter than a baby panda. Nothing. Except maybe a baby panda sneezing...

• Posted at 9:51 AM · LINK

Joe Gill Remembered

An obituary for Joe Gill in his hometown newspaper. Apparently, I now run "an obituary Web site featuring famous names in the comics industry." Sometimes, it sure feels that way.

• Posted at 9:50 AM · LINK

Raw, Raw!

RawVegas.tv is a new Internet site that went online yesterday. As near as I can figure out, the idea behind it is that a crew of reporters run around Las Vegas and tape features about what's going on. There's not much up yet of interest but we're going to keep our eyes on this site.

• Posted at 1:44 AM · LINK