The other day, discussing ways of getting around San Diego, I mentioned the pedal cabs (or pedi-cabs, as seems to be the more popular name) they have down there. My buddy Dana Gabbard directed me to this article in the L.A. Times that discusses the problems of these vehicles. Many are unlicensed, some have been known to go where they're forbidden to go, and there have been a couple of fatal accidents. Maybe they're not such a good idea after all...
Happy to say, the medical news is good for Gene Colan and he will be at the Comic-Con in San Diego, after all. So the announcements of his panel and appearance being cancelled are now, themselves, cancelled. Gene should be on the Golden Age Panel on Thursday at 3:30 in Room 8, and I'll be interviewing him (with the help of Marv Wolfman) in that same room on Friday at 11 AM. Yay.
Thanks to all who volunteered for Freberg Duty. I got over 75 applicants and will be calling on a few of you. But you should all go by the table (AA-01 in Artists Alley) and say howdy to Stan and Hunter Freberg. They'll be selling autographed photos, books, and CDs of the best comedy album ever done, Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America.
Here's another one of these links to my schedule...
If I look different to you today, it's probably because I'm on my backup computer. Since this looks to be a very busy week, what with the convention and all, naturally my hard disk had to crash, which it did at around 3 AM this morning. It looked at me, looked at the list of things I need to get done, decided this would be the perfect time and quit dead on me. They do that deliberately, you know.
Fortunately, I have this clever system of backups that ensures I lose nothing when this happens and can move over here to the backup with very little loss of data. Unfortunately, I still have to shlep my main computer over to my techno-wizard friend today because what's wrong with it seems to be beyond my only-goes-so-far expertise. Near as I can tell, the thingamabob is out of alignment with the whatzis. In fact, I'm hoping we don't need to do a low level reformat of the whatzis.
All of this means you may not see a lot of posting here for a while...an announcement I make with great trepidation. Because two-thirds of the time when I say it, someone really important dies and I'm back here doing obit postings...and we've sure had enough of those lately.
In other news: As you all know, Stan and Hunter Freberg are making their first-ever appearance at the Comic-Con and folks are really excited. As well they should be. Is there any devout fan of Freberg who's attending who'd like to donate a couple of hours to helping me help them? I'm especially looking for someone who's going to be there by late Wednesday and can help set up for Preview Night. Drop me a note.
And there seems to be a slight chance that Gene Colan will be at the con after all. He has a doctor's appointment this afternoon and maybe, just maybe, they'll clear him to go. Stay tuned for the verdict, probably later today.
Okay, I'd better go get the main computer over to my computer expert, who's over in the Palms area. If you're anywhere near there and in need of the number of someone who can fix or build a PC for you, I've got just the guy. Write me for his contact info. I'm heading over there now, just as soon as I put on some pants. That's usually a good idea.
The photo above left is actor Bill Daily as he appeared in his role on the hit TV series, I Dream of Jeannie. But I could also have put up a picture of Bill as he appeared on the even-bigger-hit TV series, The Bob Newhart Show. And somewhere here, I have pics on Bill on other shows, always being very funny.
The photo above right is actor Jack Riley, who's also done a million things but is probably best known for that same Newhart series, as well as hundreds of commercials and cartoons and movies and...well, both men have done an awful lot.
They'll be discussing their careers on Wednesday on Stu's Show, the anchor program of Shokus Internet Radio. Stuart Shostak will be interviewing them and taking your phone calls live between the hours of 4 PM and 6 PM Pacific Time, which translates to 7 PM to 9 PM on the East Coast and to other times in other places. Jack's been on before but this is Bill's first time so I'm guessing the emphasis will be on him. Sound like something we'll all want to listen to.
How you do such a thing: This is not a podcast. It's like any radio. You have to listen when it's on. When it's on, go to the website of Shokus Internet Radio and click where you're told to click, damn it. The show reruns every day until the following Wednesday but you'll enjoy it more if you listen when they're there. And listen to the station at other hours, too. Stu has some darn good stuff on and you can tune in, minimize the window it's in, then do other things on your computer while you listen. I often do.
On Saturday morning at the Comic-Con, we'll be doing our annual Quick Draw game...and this isn't really a plug because we're going to fill the room and turn hundreds away. So it doesn't matter to me if you attend or not.
The way it works is that we have three fast cartoonists on stage. Each has a projector device and there are huge screens so you can see what they're drawing as they draw it. I'm out in the audience with a microphone hurling challenges at them and getting suggestions from the folks who've come to see this spectacle. It's always interesting and usually very funny.
Two of the three cartoonists are always Sergio Aragonés and Scott Shaw! The third seat rotates and this year, it'll be filled by a guy I've been pestering for years to come and play. He finally (finally!) said yes.
Floyd Norman went to work for the Disney Studios in '56, in time to work on Sleeping Beauty. He worked on many of their features and on other projects for the studio since, and also branched out to other studios on occasion. He's one of the cleverest cartoonists I know...as a few thousand of you will see on Saturday. (No pressure, Floyd.)
Not long ago, he received the highest honor you can get at the Walt Disney Company short of being paid well. They named him a Disney Legend, which is a distinction given to few. Here's his acceptance speech at the ceremony...
July 19, 2009
