So let me see if I have this right. When it came out that John Edwards was paying $400 for his haircuts, that told us everything we had to know about him being vain or vapid or phony or out of touch with America or something. Whatever it told us, it was pretty derogatory about Edwards.
But the folks who said that didn't care that John McCain usually wears $600 shoes or that Cindy McCain has worn gowns (including one dress at the G.O.P. convention) that cost over $100,000...and they're not going to care that the Republican National Committee has coughed up more than $150,000 to clothe and coif Sarah Palin. That kind of spending says nothing about the person wearing all the money. Right?
I actually don't think it does about the McCains and Palin and it didn't about Edwards. And I'm really sick of that mode of politics where if your opponent eats an almond, you have to immediately issue talking points about how the eating of almonds proves someone is unfit for public office.
My pal Robert Elisberg, who (I promise, Bob) is going to get that lunch I owe him very soon, has a good piece up over at The Huffington Post about Barack Obama's legislative record. It's not what his detractors claim it is, what a surprise.
I haven't put up many, maybe even any political videos here but my buddy Bob Claster sent me the link to this one and it's just too good to skip. It features Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, Garry Marshall, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara and Valerie Harper...
Hey, you'll want to tune in for this, especially if you have the kind of mania some of us have for The Three Stooges. Tomorrow afternoon on Stu's Show, my pal Stuart Shostak is going to be welcoming a terrific guest — Joan Howard Maurer, daughter of Moe and therefore niece of Curly and Shemp. Joan is a lovely lady who has helped preserve and advance the family legacy, and she has some great stories about what it was like to grow up in that clan.
(Note to Stu: Joan has more than enough great anecdotes about the Stooges to fill your two hours but make sure you get her to talk about her own work for charity, which has been most impressive. Also, get her to talk a little about her late hubby, Norman Maurer. Norman was a superb comic book artist (the one-time partner of Joe Kubert) and a fine writer-producer of motion pictures and animated cartoons. I was honored to work with him a few times as he was a nice, talented man.)
Joining Stu and Joan for two hours will be a couple of other folks who figure large into the Stooge world: Broadcasting legend Gary Owens, who was responsible for securing a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame for the nitwits, and Lon Davis, co-editor of a new book about them. Matter of fact, I should plug Lon's book and not just because I have an essay in it...
It's called Stooges Among Us and it contains articles by folks who knew and/or worked with Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Joe and/or Curly Joe. Books about funny people are often not very funny but some of this book is quite funny...and some is touching or at least passionate. You can order a copy here and if you have any interest at all in the Stooges, you'll enjoy it.
You'll also enjoy Stu's Show tomorrow. The show is done live at 4 PM Pacific (6 PM Eastern) and it airs for two fast-moving hours. To listen in — and you can even call in and participate — go to the website of Shokus Internet Radio at the correct time and do what the website tells you to do. You'll hear the show streaming live to you over your computer and you'll have a fine time. And if you really want to get into the spirit of things, you can poke yourself in the eyes and rip a few handfuls of hair out of your head.
This runs nine minutes but a lot of you will like it. It's a whole buncha network promos for TV shows of the sixties...mostly shows that didn't last all that long but there are a couple in there that were hits. I remember watching every one of these series except the one that starred Robert Goulet.
October 20, 2008
