Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Called It Again...

On April 24 on this blog, I posted the following...

I don't understand it. My car isn't running any better with the $4.00 gas in it than it did with the $3.00 gas in it.

Maybe I'll have better luck in June with the $5.00 gas.

Sure enough...it's June, I'm paying more than $5.00 a gallon for gas...and my car isn't running any better.

• Posted at 9:24 PM · LINK

Go Read It!

Why are we getting so fat as a people? Well, one reason is that our food is becoming most available to us in huge portion sizes.

• Posted at 3:44 PM · LINK

Toon Writing

The new issue of Written By, the magazine of the Writers Guild of America, is out now and it's devoted largely to the writing of cartoons. There are in-depth pieces on Matt Groening (who did the cover), Brad Bird, Seth MacFarlane, strikes and troubles of the past...and even an introductory overview article by me. A few excerpts from the issue, not including my piece, are on the magazine's website. Look for it at your local newsstand.

• Posted at 2:29 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Fred Kaplan on what a mess Afghanistan has become. Apparently, we don't care about the place as much as we once thought we did.

• Posted at 10:04 AM · LINK

Go Look!

Here's a remarkable photo of the Barack Obama/Al Gore campaign rally the other day. It's a 360° photo, meaning you can move the picture all around with your cursor. Forget the politics a moment and just enjoy the visual.

• Posted at 2:20 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

In honor of Gary Owens appearing later today on Stu's Show (see here for details), here's two minutes of the man reminiscing about Laugh-In for a recent documentary.

You will notice that at one point, he holds up one of the original doors from the famed Laugh-In joke wall and says he got it when they were disassembling the set. He may have gotten others then but the one he's holding was salvaged by one of the show's writers, David Panich. (David was the guy who created and wrote The Farkle Family, along with many of the best routines on that show.) David later gave it to one of the show's other writers, Rowby Goren, and when Rowby was moving, he gave it to me.

I had it in the trunk of my car for months. One night, I was at a meeting of CAPS, the Comic Art Professional Society, and Gary was present...and I suddenly thought, "Hey, he oughta have that." So I went out, got it, took it in, handed it to him and told him he'd won the door prize.

I mention this because it's the only time I've ever known Gary to be wrong about anything. Make sure you catch him on Stu's Show...and believe every word he utters.

• Posted at 12:20 AM · LINK

How I Spent Yesterday

I spent a few hours yesterday over on two soundstages at Universal Studios that were far from the recent fire. I was watching people there film portions of the finale to Land of the Lost, a forthcoming movie starring Will Ferrell in a remake/update of the classic Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morn series of the same name. It'll be a big (maybe the big) Summer release next year ('09) and while I'm not supposed to divulge what I saw, I don't think they'll be too upset if I tell you it looked terrific. Remind me, when we get closer to the release and things aren't so hush-hush, to tell a great story about something one of the special effects guys told me.

A few hours earlier, I was in Beverly Hills for a meeting and I ducked into one of my favorite pizza places (this one) for a quick slice. This was before I realized that when I got to the set, they'd be serving pizza for dinner. Anyway, I'm in the pizza place in Beverly Hills and the fellow ahead of me looks at a wall of celebrity photos, points to one of Christopher Walken and asks, "Does he come in here?" The guy behind the counter says, "Occasionally." The customer says, "Then I want a slice of pizza with more cow bell!"

The guy behind the counter — who apparently had never seen this sketch (with Will Ferrell, oddly enough) — turns to the guy making the pizzas and says, "Hey, we got cowbell?" The guy making pizzas answers, "No."

The customer — not one to give up on a lame joke just because nobody gets it — announces, "Guys, I gotta have more cowbell." The man behind the counter gives him a look and says, "I told you...we don't have cowbell. We have pepperoni. We have sausage. We have pineapple..."

"All right, all right," the customer says. Then he points to a picture on the wall of Jack Nicholson and says, "I'll have a chicken salad sandwich..."

He didn't get a laugh with that, either. When I left with my order, he was still working the wall...

• Posted at 12:15 AM · LINK