Today is the birthday of my best friend (male division), Sergio Aragonés. I have known Sergio since 1969 and have yet to encounter anyone who doesn't like him, save for one or two who were just baldly jealous of his fame, skills or general charm.
Occasionally, I've promoted him as The Fastest Cartoonist Alive, which he probably is...though in recent years, I've soft-pedalled that aspect of his skill. It makes it sound like, "Well, he's not good but at least he's fast." The fact is he is good. Very good. He didn't get all them cartooning awards, nor did he get all that adoration by his peers because he's fast. They just like the pictures he draws...and the guy who draws them.
Sergio has an exhibit of his work going on currently in Ojai, California. Here's the latest in a long series of articles about it and him. And take a look at the great self portrait he drew for the exhibition.
If you don't get enough Jerry Lewis this weekend watching the telethon, you can enjoy this two-and-a-half hour video interview with him. I haven't made it all the way through myself. Let me know if he says anything about meeting me when I was seven.
Speaking of Sesame Street, as we did here the other day...here's a musical number from early in the show's run. If you saw this when it first aired, you've had this tune running through your head ever since. If it's new to you...well, just try getting rid of it after watching this...
If you're like me, you get a lot of nutcase, lying political-type e-mails. I'm not talking about the kind that try to build a rational, fact-based case for some viewpoint. I get those too and often find them of interest. But I'm talking here about the kind wherein someone just plain lies about what's in a bill and/or offers demonstrably-phony quotes. That kind.
I'm sure there are left-wing ones but I only seem to receive the right-wing variety. Usually, they're quickly deleted but if you want to respond to them, Media Matters has a service for you. They are, as you probably know, a Liberal watchdog group. They've set up a section of their website that gathers such e-mails and offers up polite responses you can send. They include links to news sources that aid with the debunking, just in case the person who sent you the e-mail is one of the rare ones who can be convinced their facts are in error.
If someone out there can point me to a similar site that debunks lying left-wing e-mails (and does so without citing Michelle Malkin as an unbiased source), let me know.
September 7, 2009
