Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Also This Weekend...

Just found out I'm also hosting a tribute to and interview of Joe Kubert at the Mid-Ohio Con. Saturday at Noon. Another good reason to be there...for you and for me.

• Posted at 12:16 PM · LINK

Bail Bonds

Wanna know why some Democrats oppose the bailout bill? Read this. Wanna know why some Republicans oppose it? Read this.

For all I know, they could both be right. Like most of you, I have the financial acumen of a PEZ Dispenser and lack a clear idea of what we need or how much we need it. I sure don't like the idea of us bailing out Wall Street after so many fat cats have raped and plundered and left it battered and beaten. Nor do I like the idea of crashes that will almost certainly harm those on the bottom, perhaps severely.

This is one of those situations where I feel I have to look to our leaders — or at least, the ones I trust more than the ones I don't trust at all. Most of the elected officials who I think have been prudent and wise in the past are in support of the bailout bill...but it worries me that it's a "compromise" bill to get a lot of the folks I don't trust to sign onto it. That means it's probably not as good as it could be. I also worry because I don't trust even the people I trust to be right all the time, and none of them seem all that certain that what they're doing is right. There's an awful lot of "I ain't sticking my neck out for this one until enough of the opposition has stuck its necks out, too."

So far, the only solution I see anyone arguing with any conviction is when McCain and other Republicans insist the only answer, as it is with any problem, is to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans. That would include all the folks who made off with the hundreds of billions we now have to replace. We wouldn't want to tax any of them, would we?

• Posted at 11:17 AM · LINK

This Coming Weekend...

Your obedient blogger will be in Columbus, Ohio this weekend for the Mid-Ohio Con...always a fun time. On Sunday at Noon, I'll be appearing on a panel about Jack Kirby (Evanier doing a panel on Kirby...what are the odds?) and I think that's all I'm doing on the program. So I guess you'll find me loitering in the exhibit hall and causing trouble and seeing friends. If you're anywhere near Columbus, you might want to attend this convention, not because of me but because everyone who goes to one of these things seems to enjoy themselves. There's a reason I go back for them whenever I can and it isn't just because Tony Isabella is so adorable.

• Posted at 9:44 AM · LINK

Hocking Tomorrow...

Some numbers to keep in mind...

With no fanfare and little notice, the national debt has grown by more than $4 trillion during George W. Bush's presidency. It's the biggest increase under any president in U.S history.

On the day President Bush took office, the national debt stood at $5.727 trillion. The latest number from the Treasury Department shows the national debt now stands at more than $9.849 trillion. That's a 71.9 percent increase on Mr. Bush's watch.

And this is before we pay for the big bailouts...

• Posted at 12:34 AM · LINK

Baby Puss

Historians of such things write of the four great silent comedians: Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Harry Langdon. Of these, my favorite is Keaton but the most interesting one may be Langdon, whose stardom was brief and whose best work was confined to a handful of memorable films. He started out making shorts for Mack Sennett in 1924 and soon broke out of that studio's brand of fast-paced, faceless slapstick. Langdon, more so than any other silent comic, took his time on the screen. His expressive, cherubic face enabled him to connect with audiences. Back then, most of the other comedians were either expressionless like Keaton or wearing the human equivalent of clown masks. Langdon was unique and when he was good, he was very, very good.

A star by 1925 and a has-been by 1928, he bounced around the film business as a performer and sometimes a writer (for Laurel and Hardy) until his death in 1944. His story, on-screen and off, is told and told well in a book by my buddy Bill Schelly and I'm here to recommend the new, improved edition. Bill's done a tremendous job of digging up information about a great comic whose life has been sadly under-reported. I've read darn near everything ever published about silent comedians and this book told me plenty I didn't know. Order a copy here.

• Posted at 12:23 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Stephen Sondheim is interviewed briefly about Anyone Can Whistle (one of his quickly-closing hits), followed by Millicent Martin singing a song that was cut from Follies.

• Posted at 12:09 AM · LINK