If you'd like to see more photos from last night's What's My Line? Live on Stage, your cordial host (J. Keith van Straaten) has posted some on his weblog, including a slide show of the entire show. Here's that link.
There are many places you can go on the Internet and see George W. Bush be bashed, ridiculed, attacked, insulted, etc. It's becoming more common on the web than porn. But the most derogatory thing I've seen on the topic of Bush lately is an article by his devout supporter, William Kristol, entitled "Why Bush Will Be A Winner." If this is the best anyone can say for the guy, he's (and therefore, we are) in more trouble than anyone thought. A dead giveaway is this early sentence...
Let's step back from the unnecessary mistakes and the self-inflicted wounds that have characterized the Bush administration.
Note to my friends: I'm never going to be in a position where if I screw up, thousands of people die. But even if it's just a matter of defending me when I write a lousy comic book, please don't start your defense of me by saying everyone should look past the unnecessary mistakes and self-inflicted wounds that have characterized my work. You won't be helping.
You can find many responses to Mr. Kristol on the web today. Here's one.
Though battling deadlines and other pressures, I took time out last evening to attend What's My Line? Live on Stage, a local enterprise I've written about before...here, for instance. And here. Oh, and I wrote about it here, too. It's always a lot of fun and last night's installment (their 70th) was the best I've seen.
The panel consisted of Frank DeCaro, who's on Sirius Satellite Radio and who was on the recent revival of I've Got A Secret on GSN; comic actress Annie Wood; Oscar Nunez, who can be seen each week on The Office; and our lovely Matinee Lady, Teresa Ganzel. The first contestant was a woman who made doggie treats. The second contestant was a former Beverly Hills meter maid who'd been on the original What's My Line? back in 1964. (They showed a clip.) The third contesant signed in as "Mr. X" but I had a hunch he was my partner, Sergio Aragonés. DeCaro guessed that occupation — "draws for Mad Magazine" — and then Sergio gave a brief cartooning demonstration to the delight of the crowd.
I was there partly to see Sergio but also because the show's producers had told me that they had a super-spectacular Mystery Guest. They didn't tell me who — they're real good at keeping things secret — but did say I shouldn't miss it. So I didn't. I was there when Peter Falk entered and signed-in, please.
And boy, the place exploded. I was in the front row (with Scott Shaw!) and I could see how baffled the panelists, who of course were blindfolded, were as to what kind of celeb could be getting this incredible welcome. It went on and on...everyone in the house standing and cheering and clapping and just being thrilled to be in the same room with Columbo. Sergio had received a decent ovation when he entered and another, thunderous round when it was revealed to the audience just who he was and what he did. But for Peter Falk, they (we) took the roof off the dump, as it were. What a great moment. And after the panel guessed who it was — another point for Mr. DeCaro — host J. Keith van Straaten conducted a funny and charming interview with the man. Is anyone reading this surprised that Peter Falk was funny and charming? Actually, Keith is a superb emcee who could make any guest funny and charming but in this case, he didn't have to work so hard.
This current series of What's My Line? Live on Stage has two more Sundays to run and they may or may not do more after that. Next week's Mystery Guest probably won't be as wonderful as Peter Falk but the show will have Len Wein on the panel...and yes, I know that's like saying, "Sorry you missed Laurence Olivier but you can still catch George 'Goober' Lindsey," but the show will still be fun. You can get more info over at this website. If you're in or around Los Angeles, I highly recommend the outing. (Thanks to Chris Valada, who took the fine photo above.)
Last week, my friend Carolyn and I were in Pittsburgh for the Anthrocon, a gathering of "furries." This news story will give you a brief sense of what it was like there...though of course, the TV crew sought out the more colorful, bizarre elements of the convention. As Dr. Conway (the head honcho of Anthrocon) notes in this report, only about 10% of the attendees — and it seemed like less to me — dress up in "fursuits." But if you're a TV news operation and you have your choice of showing footage of people dressed like polar bears and people not dressed like polar bears, which are you going to air? Exactly.
July 17, 2007
