Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Shel

Over the next few days, I'm going to be linking to several online remembrances of the late Shel Dorf, founder of the Comic-Con International in San Diego. Here's one written for the L.A. Times by someone who considered himself a good friend of Shel's.

• Posted at 5:11 PM · LINK

Second Thoughts

In light of several e-mails I've received, I re-read those lists I linked to of things the staff of a restaurant should never do. This morning, they strike me as more misguided than they did last night. A lot of 'em are, of course, simple common sense and courtesy...but some fault the staff for things (like the music policy) which the restaurant's management oughta handle. And what bothers me this A.M. is how much of the list is calculated to reduce the poor waiter or waitress to an impersonal, servile robot. Obviously, I'd like my meal delivered promptly and the way I want it...but I'd also kinda like it delivered by a human being. If that human being feels like telling me what his or her favorite dessert is or gets otherwise chatty, fine. It makes me uncomfy to be treated like I'm Genghis Khan, ready to lop off the head of any servant who folds my napkin the wrong way.

• Posted at 12:24 PM · LINK

Today's Political Rant

Some Republican Senators are proposing a constitutional amendment that would put term limits on Congress — two terms (12 years) for a Senator, three terms (6 years) for a Congressperson.

I recognize that proposed constitutional amendments have about a one-in-more-than-a-thousand chance of ever going anywhere, and that they get introduced just to get attention and look like someone is doing something. That said, I've always thought term limits were a rotten, anti-democratic idea. If I'm happy with my Congressman — and I am with Henry Waxman — and he wants to serve another term, why should someone else say I can't have him? If the problem is that he amasses too much power by staying there, then change the seniority system. That's a lot easier than a constitutional amendment would be.

And if the premise is that by serving multiple terms, a rep becomes too susceptible to bribes from lobbyists...well, I don't understand that at all. It seems to me that if I got elected to Congress and I knew there was no way I could build a whole career there, I'd immediately start lining up my next job. That would mean cozying up to big companies that might hire me when I left office.

I can sorta/kinda buy the idea of limiting the president since it might not be grand to have the whole executive branch configured around one person so long. It could mean that when the next Chief Exec came around, he or she could never eliminate the influence of the previous Chief Exec. But no member of Congress shapes the legislative branch that much and when a long-term seat occupant finally departs, the replacement doesn't seem to have that much trouble taking over.

So I really don't get the argument for Term Limits. We trust the electorate to vote in the right people when there are openings. Why can't we trust them to just vote out the wrong people because they've been there too long?

• Posted at 12:00 PM · LINK

Briefly Noted

Here's a report on that thing I attended over the weekend.

• Posted at 11:08 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

My pal Bob Elisberg writes about How to Hate the President. I'm linking though I don't agree completely with Bob on this one. Like, I don't think George W. Bush was wrong, per se, to cut taxes during a war. Cutting taxes can be a very good thing. I think Bush was wrong to cut taxes without cutting spending, which is difficult to do during a war. Slight difference. I also think he was wrong to shift too much of the burden from the wealthy to the middle and especially the lower class. And I don't "hate" him for that. I just think he did a very good thing for his friends and a very bad thing to the rest of us.

This may be a small, obvious point but I think we've cheapened a lot of words and metaphors lately. Hitler and Nazis used to have a specific historical reference and now they've kind of become freeform insults for anyone you don't like for any reason. If Obama goes out for cheeseburgers, he's Hitler. If my gardener overtrims the hedges, he's a Nazi. If someone ever comes along again who arranges for mass genocide, it's going to be very difficult to compare them to anything meaningful. I'm also bothered by the way some are tossing the word "hate" around.

• Posted at 11:03 AM · LINK

Foto File

Continuing our dip into old photos I found in my files, here's one I took at a New York Comic Convention in, I think, 1976. The lady at left is Marvelous Marie Severin, who worked for Marvel for so many years drawing Hulk and Sub-Mariner and Not Brand Echh and other comics. Her real specialty, however, was drawing hilarious and insulting caricatures of anyone who stumbled within about ten feet of her drawing table. In recent years, Marie has had some health problems but we're hearing good things about the recovery process.

The gentleman at right is my long-time (like, back to the mid-sixties) friend, Tony Isabella. Tony was then writing and sometimes editing for Marvel so Marie drew a lot of insulting caricatures of him...and she should have been ashamed of herself for that because it was just too easy. Tony has since written for most of the major publishers and he recently authored a huge, popular book entitled 1,000 Comic Books You Must Read, which is a shameless lie because I haven't written quite that many comic books. Almost but not quite. Ergo, there aren't a thousand you must read. But I guess if you view it as 1,000 Comic Books You Might Wanna Read, it's fine. Even then, I'm sure it's only because he wanted to show his impartiality that he left out most of what his dear friend Mark has written. I shall show mine by recommending it anyway and putting in this Amazon link so you can order a copy or three.

• Posted at 10:35 AM · LINK

Today's Bad Idea

When I was in Vegas this past weekend, I was amazed how bad the traffic was. They've removed pedestrian crossings on The Strip in the most crowded areas. If you cross, you have to use these M.C. Escher-designed escalators or walkways that link some hotels to others via bridges. Even with that, it was bumper to bumper at the intersection of the Trop, the MGM, the Excalibur and New York, New York...and not much better at the juncture of Bally's, Bill's, the Bellagio and Caesars Palace. You'd think it couldn't get any worse.

Apparently, someone took that as a challenge and asked themselves, "How can we make traffic on The Strip even more impossible? We need something that will slow down drivers and distract them." The answer, obviously, is to put strippers in glass trucks and drive them up and down Las Vegas Boulevard at night. Think I'm making this up? Check out the video clip on this page.

I didn't see one of these trucks even though I walked The Strip from about Midnight 'til 2:45 AM. What I did see — and it's relevant to the question of whether these trucks should be allowed — was an awful lot of parents who were toting around very young kids. Even just before I called it a night, I saw children under the age of twelve being led around or if very young, pushed in strollers. None of them particularly looked like they were enjoying the experience. Then again, I wouldn't be happy if I had parents like that.

• Posted at 12:33 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Shelly Goldstein, who I haven't mentioned on this blog for almost two days now, has written a little something you all oughta hear. You can sing along if you like...

• Posted at 12:07 AM · LINK