I've received a number of messages asking me to comment on a recent controversy in the Captain America comic book...something about the hero taking a stand about "Teabaggers" or something. I'm not quite clear on it because I didn't read the comic in question and therefore can't comment.
Several of those messages asked me to weigh in on what I think Jack Kirby would have thought of it. Well, since Jack's been dead now for sixteen years, he's even less qualified to discuss that comic than I am. But on at least two message boards, folks are debating what he would have said and how his politics would be described in today's political environment. Again, I can't say. Jack is not in today's political environment. When I knew him he was a solid, lifelong Liberal Democrat. Would he still be? Who knows? I have a friend who was a member of the John Birch Society in the sixties and today is slightly to the left of Leon Trotsky. People change. (Hey, Joe the Plumber now thinks ill of John McCain. That oughta be good for another 15 seconds of fame.)
I see no reason to presume Jack would have changed...or that any change would not have taken him towards more progressive ground. But I'm not going to sit here and tell you any particular change could never have occurred. About the only thing I'm reasonably sure of in this area is that there is nothing that could have ever happened, up to and including a complete personality transformation, that would have caused Kirby to not despise Richard Nixon.
Last night, 60 Minutes did a flimsy (I thought) piece on ponzi schemes and financial hustles. The segment didn't have much substance but you might enjoy this brief exchange between Morley Safer and the great manipulator of cards and confidences, Ricky Jay. There may be a short commercial for a company that's working its own kinds of ponzi schemes...
These will probably only be of interest to those of you who live in or around Los Angeles...
Anyone want to see Dreamgirls? Live? A snazzy (I hear) production of the show is playing downtown at the Ahmanson Theater from February 23 through April 4. I have season-type tix for March 23 and I don't want to use them. I know most people love this show but I don't. I would like to sell my tickets at face value to someone who does love the show. My seats are good — second row of the balcony near the center — and if March 23 doesn't work for you, I can probably exchange them for equally-fine seats on another date if it's late in the run. Drop me an e-mail if interested.
Driving to WonderCon in San Francisco? It's April 2-4 as you know and it's a great con and I'm looking for someone who's motoring north from L.A. for it who might have room in their car for a couple of boxes of books. This is not for me. It's for Stan and Hunter Freberg, who are guests and who are flying there. I figure a couple of legends shouldn't have to haul boxes on and off American Airlines so I'd like to find someone who's driving there to transport their wares up and maybe back. I'd also like to find them a couple of trustworthy helpers to assist them at the con, watching their table and such. Again, drop me an e-mail if any of these volunteers might be you.
I have found — well, actually, Carolyn found — a truly wonderful bread. It's Bavarian Sour Rye Bread...kind of a cross between rye and sourdough. It's made by the Old Town Baking Company and it's sold at various farmer's markets across the Southern California area. Here's a list of where the company vends its goodies. I am also a fan of Big Mista's, a barbecue concern that I found and which sells cooked meats at local farmer's markets. Here's a list of where and when they can be patronized. Note that both the great bread and the great ribs can be procured via one-stop-shopping at the farmer's market in El Segundo on Thursdays. This is the only reason I could ever imagine anyone wanting to go to El Segundo...but it's a good reason.
I had a scare Saturday evening. I was in my favorite CVS Pharmacy and I thought I oughta pick up a few more Reach Access Flossers. I only have about two dozen in my home and you can never have enough Reach Access Flossers around. It is, as we noted here, The Greatest Scientific Breakthrough Of Our Time.
That's a fact. Don't tell me that honor belongs to the Internal Combustion Engine. First of all, that's not our time. Secondly, even if it was, it doesn't hold a candle to the Reach Access Flosser. Let's say you're eating ribs and you get a piece of rib wedged between your two back molars. You think an Internal Combustion Engine will get it out for you? Not bloodly likely.
Anyway, I went to pick up a few more and couldn't find them. Up and down the oral care aisle I went, finding brushes and Water-Piks and toothpaste and tongue scrapers. How, I asked aloud, could they possibly have tongue scrapers and not Reach Access Flossers? Finding none, I body-slammed a passing CVS employee and asked if perhaps they'd moved their Reach Access Flossers to a special Reach Access Flosser section of the store. To my horror, he said, "I don't think they make them anymore!"
Chilled to the marrow, I raced home to my beloved Internet. The Johnson & Johnson Company just couldn't have stopped making them, I knew...but if they had, I was prepared to surf the 'net all night and buy up every last Reach Access Flosser I could find anywhere. I'd even take (and sterilize) used ones if I had to. What I found though was that my favorite Scientific Breakthrough is still manufactured. For some reason though, the CVS chain no longer carries them.
This scares me a bit. There are 7000 CVS Pharmacies in this country and at this moment, they're building 7000 more...and then 7000 more. They won't stop until there's one on every block, plus I think they're starting to open them inside Walgreen's outlets and Duane Reade stores. It can't be good for the sales and therefore the ongoing existence of Reach Access Flossers that CVS no longer stocks them. But for the moment, I think I'm safe.
In the meantime: I am happy to report that once again, March will be Creamy Tomato Soup month at your local Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes restaurant. This is my favorite soup and so you know where I'll be eating that month. And then after I've downed a few bowls of Creamy Tomato Soup, I will floss thoroughly with my Reach Access Flosser. It takes so little to please me.
February 14, 2010
