Sunday, April 26, 2009

Recommended Reading

Paul Begala says (and seems to have proof) that the United States of America executed Japanese war criminals for the act of waterboarding. Gee, we seemed to think it was torture then.

• Posted at 8:26 PM · LINK

Behind the Scenes

The other day, I posted a video link for a Philips Carousel commercial by Adam Berg — a tableau (I guess you'd call it) of a police shoot-out. I said I had no idea how they'd done it. Lee Aronsohn sent me this link to an article that sorta kinda explains some of it.

• Posted at 8:02 PM · LINK

Name Calling

A group on the Republican National Committee is pushing for a resolution that they will henceforth refer to their opposition as "The Democratic Socialist Party." Naturally, Liberal blogs and even middle-o'-the-road ones are erupting with suggestions of names that could be bestowed upon the Republican Party in reprisal. The worst one I can think of is The George W. Bush-Dick Cheney Party. But I wouldn't wish that on anyone...not even The George W. Bush-Dick Cheney Party.

• Posted at 7:46 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Who's one of the most "bipartisan" Senators in the U.S. Senate? Ted Kennedy.

What, you think that's nuts? Don't argue with me. Argue with his fellow Senators. That's who they named in this survey conducted by The Hill...with Susan Collins as the most bipartisan Republican. It might also surprise you to read who some of them consider good friends and colleagues.

• Posted at 7:29 PM · LINK

Update, Update

Word around the convention today was that there was no fire at the hotel last night; that a couple of unnamed lunkheads (that was the politest thing I heard them called) started playing around with a fire extinguisher, unaware that it was connected to the fire alarm system. The "smoke" some of us heard or saw was, I was told, fire extinguisher output. Do we believe this? I dunno. But at least it got us all outside at one in the morning, which is always nice, especially when it's one entire degree Centigrade and many folks are in pajamas or bare feet.

The con was a little less crowded today. Then again, it would have to be.

And I'd like to add that this is the first time I've ever blogged while it was snowing outside my window.

• Posted at 7:00 PM · LINK

Four-Alarm Fun

Well, actually it was more like one or two alarms. About three minutes after I posted the previous dispatch, a buzzer began to go off out in the hallway, signifying that the hotel we're in — Carolyn and I are here for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, remember — might be on fire or something of the sort. I grabbed up the tangible necessity of my life (this computer) and with Carolyn following, joined the throng of hotel guests walking down the stairwell. We're on the eighth floor so it wasn't that bad a jaunt. There were folks in their jammies and there were dealers from the con lugging down boxes of what I assume were their rarest comics.

At the ground floor, we were directed to wait across the street, which meant dodging and weaving around about a half-dozen fire trucks which had by then arrived. Immediately, people began to ask me, "You're gonna blog about this, right?" So I'm writing this in part so I don't disappoint anyone.

Word on the street was that there was a fire on the second floor. That's where I thought I smelled smoke in passing, and Sergio says he saw smoke there as he made his way down the steps. After about twenty minutes, the firemen emerged and signalled we could go back in. A mob crushed back into the lobby where we were informed that the elevators hadn't yet been reset so we had to either wait a bit to use them or take to the stairwells again. We elected to hike...and that's all I know about it. We're back in the room, everything's fine and it looks like a dandy time to go beddy-bye. Good night.

• Posted at 1:02 AM · LINK

Bea Arthur, R.I.P.

Sorry...no personal anecdotes about Bea Arthur. Never met the lady, though I liked her in everything I ever saw her in. She had a devastating way of delivering a line...and the instance I recall at the moment was in a salute to Jerry Herman done at the Hollywood Bowl. Ms. Arthur was there to perform a number she'd introduced on Broadway in Mr. Herman's show, Mame. But in introducing it, she referred to it as being from the show, Vera.

Big laugh from the audience. Vera was the name of the character she played in Mame...so of course, the joke was that she was acting as if her supporting role has been the starring part. And as I typed the previous sentence, it has suddenly dawned on me to check YouTube to see if the clip was there. Better you should see and hear it for yourself than make do with my telling you about it. I'll be back in a moment.

Okay, I'm back. And sure enough, there it was so here it is. I don't think much of the song but I love the joke she did about the show's name...or more accurately, I love the way she sold it. If you want to know what they mean when they talk about "timing" in connection with a funny line, here's a perfect example...one of so many in the grand career of Bea Arthur...

• Posted at 12:05 AM · LINK