Sarah Palin says that she won't back off her claim that the Health Reform Bill will create "death panels" whereby the government decides which old folks will die. And you know something? If my whole career and future depended on keeping really stupid people paranoid about things like that, I might keep selling that line, too.
If the recent Underwear Bomber incident has you nervous about flying, read Nate Silver. Air travel is still as safe as ever, which is safe enough for most of us. It's inconvenient and it's probably going to get even less convenient...but it's still pretty darned safe.
As a follow-up to our report on the economy in Las Vegas, we've heard that the Golden Gate casino has finally raised the price of its famous, somewhat edible shrimp cocktail from a buck to two bucks. As explained here when I predicted this increase (an easy call), for years people visiting downtown L.V. have tramped to the back of the Golden Gate — which means they pass every slot machine in the place twice — for the sheer novelty of buying a shrimp cocktail for one dollar. I don't think too many of those folks particularly wanted a shrimp cocktail but the bargain was always too good to resist.
Then in the spring of '08, legions of cheap tourists were jolted by the news that the Golden Gate had doubled the price...but there was an "out." If you joined the Golden Gate slot club, you got your mini-crustaceans for the old price. So everyone did. The same folks traipsed to the rear of the place for the same bay shrimp at the same price. They just stopped en route at the booth where you sign up for the free membership card.
And now that deal is gone and it's two dollars for everyone. I suppose sales will not decline much since the way the economy's going, "two dollars" is the old "one dollar." It's still a bargain but it's still a shame.
Joe Brancatelli on the year (2009) in air travel. I don't get why they pay the CEOs of the major airlines an average of $3.6 million a year to run an industry that collectively loses $5 billion a year. They could hire me to run an airline for half that and I'd do just as bad a job for less.
Here's another photo that I recently found in my files here. I'm not sure if I took it or someone else did but it's too good to not share. From left to right, we have Will Eisner, Burne Hogarth, Jerry Robinson and Jack Kirby. So right there in one shot, you have the guys who invented about half of the entire vocabulary of drawing adventure-type comic books and strips.
Hey, let's embed one of my favorite musical moments from the world of motion pictures. It's Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong in a song from The Five Pennies...
January 5, 2010
