To ward off another hundred people sending me this link, I'm embedding the "star-studded" gay rights musical that features John C. Reilly, Jack Black, Margaret Cho, Andy Richter and so many more. But I'm also embedding it because I think it's absolutely on-target...
I can't help but derive a certain sense of reassurance every time another batch of Nixon tapes and documents gets released. He really was everything his detractors said he was. You'd like to think the Presidency would ennoble a man...cause him to rise above petty hatreds and prejudices and try to be the leader of all. But Richard Milhous Nixon truly embraced the mindset that his evil Jiminy Cricket, Pat Buchanan, summarized in an infamous memo; that it was fine to break the nation in two as long as "their side" got the bigger piece. An overlooked aspect of Watergate was the revelation of how much was done to use governmental power to reward Nixon's "friends" and punish his "enemies."
Right after Nixon was elected, there was a famous photo of him greeting crowds and one young lady was holding up a handmade sign that said, "Bring Us Together." That's a nice thought but the Nixon administration never had the slightest interest in bringing "us" together except by nuking the opposition into oblivion. Oddly enough, it was not the politics of the other side that he loathed — he made an awful lot of things on the Liberal Wish List happen. It was merely this deep-rooted belief that in life, if someone isn't demonstrably with you, they're against you...and if they're against you, you have to kill them before they kill you. I always thought it was poetic and appropriate that Nixon's political demise was largely because of what the people who were "with him" did to and for him.
Here, for your dining and dancing pleasure, is another cartoon I wrote for the Garfield and Friends series. This is "Truckin' Odie" from season four. Lorenzo Music provides the voice of Garfield...and as I recall, I handed Lorenzo the script, he gave it a quick read...and then proceeded to record the entire song to our satisfaction in about fifteen minutes. He may have talked slow but he was fast. Gregg Berger barks for Odie, I did the lyrics, Ed Bogas did the music and the female singing voices you'll hear on the track are all Désirée Goyette, multi-tracked to sound like more people. (In quite a different vein: If you're looking for beautiful, inspirational music, check out some of the CDs Désirée markets through her own company.) I believe this episode was storyboarded and designed by Bob Nesler, who was one of the show's producers.
A Los Angeles institution, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, is in financial trouble. I've been there a few times — just last year for a birthday party, in fact — and it's a charming, wonderful place. Take a look at the slide show that accompanies that article and tell me it wouldn't be a shame if this Mr. Baker's business, school and workshop went away. If you live in the area, please consider booking a party there or otherwise supporting their fine work.
Have you heard what Tony Dow's been up to lately? You know Tony Dow...star of the sitcom classic, Leave It to Beaver. That's him in the above photo...with Jerry Mathers as You-Know-Who.
Well, Tony's done some acting and some TV hosting and some producing and directing...but he's also been sculpting and they say he's pretty good. He'd have to be because he was recently chosen as one of three sculptors to show at the Societe Nationale Des Beaux Arts exhibition in the Louvre in Paris later this month. One of his abstract bronzes will be on display there...and in the field of sculpture, you can't do much better than that.
Almost as great an honor is this: Tony is the guest today on Stu's Show, the fun 'n' informative entertainment chat show hosted by my amigo, Stuart Shostak on Shokus Internet Radio. And by now, you really oughta know how this works. The show is on live from 4 PM to 6 PM Pacific. That's 7 PM to 9 PM on the right-hand coast...and if you live somewhere else, you oughta be able to figure out when to tune in.
To tune in, just go to the Shokus website and click where they tell you to click. Stu's Show will come streaming through your computer speakers, loud and clear. Each episode reruns all week but listen today when it's live. It's more fun that way, plus you can phone in and ask Tony a question. In between playing Wally on Leave it to Beaver and getting into the Louvre, the man's had an amazing life and career, well worth hearing all about. End of plug.
So I'm walking through a parking lot the other day and I pass this lady...about twenty-five, I'd guess. She had that "Paris Hilton" look; not so much a physical resemblance as an attitude that said, "I'm rich and gorgeous and that's enough in this world." Sadly perhaps, that's not always wrong. To make matters worse, she was walking a purple poodle.
That's right: A purple poodle. She or someone had taken this cute little poodle and dyed its fur purple. And I don't mean a shade of white with a slight lavender tinge. We're talking serious purple. I mean, the dog was this color.
Naturally, I stared...first at the purple poodle, then at the lady, then at the purple poodle again. She said to me, "You're looking at my purple poodle."
I said, "Of course. I'm supposed to. You don't dye your poodle purple unless you want people to look at it.
She said, "She loves being purple."
I said, "No, she doesn't. She may not mind it but your dog did not wake up one morning and think, 'Oh, I wish someone would come along and dye me purple.'"
She said, "She loves the attention." And you would have been proud of me because I thought but did not say, "So do you, lady."
What I did say was, "I assume your purple poodle has a name."
She said, "Yes...Penelope. We call her Princess Penelope the Purple Poodle."
I asked, "Is she any relation to Claude Cooper, the kleptomaniac from Cleveland?" The lady had no idea what I was talking about. (If you don't, watch this.)
Since the conversation was long since over, I said goodbye and walked off. As I did, I heard her say to someone else, "You're looking at my purple poodle."
December 4, 2008
