Monthly Archives: August 2013

Fred Kaplan on Obama's decision to seek Congressional approval of an attack on Syria. This is going to be an interesting coalition of votes.

Here's the famous moment on Oprah Winfrey's show where everyone in her studio audience was given a car…

As I said, I have no idea if the U.S. should bomb Syria. Fortunately, it isn't up to you…or me. What scares me is that it's up to a lot of people who aren't all that interested in whether it would be good for U.S. interests around the world…or any particular interests around the world. When Obama puts it up to Congress, as he now has, he's putting it up to a lot of people who I don't see as capable of deciding anything about anything on any basis but self-interest.

There's a great scene in the play and movie of 1776 where the delegate from Georgia has been wrestling with the decision of whether to vote yea or nay on the not-insignificant question of American independence from Great Britain. Earlier in the proceedings, he says that he's for it and the people in his state seem to be against it. He says, then, that he's decided that for the time being, he will err on their side.

Then comes a moment when it is closer to the final vote on the matter. Late at night, he hikes over to the chambers where the issue has been under debate. He finds John Adams there and tells him —

I couldn't sleep. And in trying to resolve my dilemma, I remembered something I'd once read; that a representative owes the people not only his industry but his judgment. And he betrays them if he sacrifices it to their opinion. That was written by Edmund Burke…a member of the British Parliament.

I don't get the sense that very many of our elected leaders think that way. We have this war going on — Democrats and Republicans — and most of them vote the way their respective leaderships tell them to vote. If they don't, it's because they're worried about facing a primary challenge and/or outraging some small but easily-outraged faction of their base. I can imagine a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle opposing Obama because it will be so advantageous to say "I voted against it" if things go wrong. There may be more to be gained there than by being for it if things go well. But in any case, that's going to be the prevailing thought process…and that's what scares me.

A fellow wrote me that he thinks most members of Congress will vote for war because they won't want to be accused of being sissies or cowards. Maybe so…but I don't think it takes any bravery at all to vote to have someone else go off to kill foreigners. I think it takes bravery to risk losing your big donors or going against the kind of "supporter" we now have in this country — the one who wants you ousted and dead if you go against them on one single issue. I don't see much of that kind of bravery these days.

Here's a 1988 Larry King radio show with Albert Brooks…

Fred Kaplan explains the jam we (and President Obama) are in with regard to Syria. I'm glad Fred understands this stuff 'cause I sure don't.

All I know is that in the years I've been around, every time we go out and start killing people in another country, a pretty convincing argument develops that it was a huge mistake…and the ones who wind up defending the military action are the ones who seem to have testosterone problems and will automatically defend any killing anywhere, regardless of reason or results. I'm thinking it might be easier to save time and just be against this war from the start.

A jazzy little commercial animated by Ernest Pintoff…

16 Unfortunate Misuses of Punctuation.

Walt Kelly liked Chinese Food…so last Sunday evening, his daughter Carolyn and I went to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday at our favorite Chinese restaurant. At one point, I was tempted to say, "We have met the enemy and he is the Shrimp Chow Fun."

No, actually, the food was pretty good. Then we got down to the most important part of any Chinese dinner: The fortune cookies. Carolyn opened hers and it said…

That's an actual scan and in case you can't read it, it says — and I quote: "The best profit of future is the past" with no period at the end. She looked at it oddly then figured out that there was a spelling error; that they meant "prophet" instead of "profit." The message could still benefit from the word "the" before "future" but at least it makes some sense.

Then I had Carolyn open my cookie for me. I give you my word, this is also an actual scan…

Apparently, sometime between when her cookie was made and mine was made, the baker hired a proofreader.

When you think of great comedy teams, certain names come to mind: Laurel & Hardy. Abbott & Costello. The Three Stooges. Nixon & Agnew. And of course, Biffle & Shooster.

Most of you are familiar with Biffle & Shooster but just in case there's someone reading this who isn't: Benny Biffle and Sam Shooster were a popular vaudeville comedy team and they starred in approximately twenty two-reel comedy shorts in the thirties, ending with the classic, It's a Frame-Up. That last one was once thought to be a "lost" treasure but the noted film producer-historian Michael Schlesinger located and, at great personal expense, restored the film and it is now available for viewing. In fact, Mike may have done too good a job of restoration…

The print is so good that folks unfamiliar with movie history think it was shot recently; that Biffle & Shooster weren't classic comedians of the thirties but that Mike wrote, produced and directed a film in that style. And it's true that Biffle looks somewhat like the current-day comic actor Nick Santa Maria and Shooster bears more than a passing resemblance to my pal, Will Ryan. But I also know Mike and know that he has way too much integrity to phony-up a film in the classic tradition and try to pass it off as an older masterpiece…and besides, he wouldn't get away with it.

They ran the film today at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood as part of Cinecon and if it was a fake, the movie buffs who attend that event would have seen right through it. It's also playing next week at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills for Academy Award consideration. I've seen it and I can attest that it's at least as legitimate as Professional Wrestling and maybe even as authentic as William Shatner's hair. It's also quite funny. Here's a little teaser for It's a Frame-Up and if you get a chance to see it, you oughta, you wise guys…

Hey, remember yesterday when I promised a great piece of news about June Foray today? Well, here's something we hope you'll really like…

ICONIC VOICE ACTRESS JUNE FORAY NAMED RECIPIENT OF TELEVISION ACADEMY'S 2013 GOVERNORS AWARD

Foray to Be Honored at 2013 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards on Sunday, September 15th at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE

NoHo Arts District, CA August 29th, 2013 – The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors has voted to bestow its prestigious Governors Award this year to prolific and Emmy® Award-winning voice actress June Foray. The announcement was made by Television Academy Chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum.

Ms. Foray has enjoyed a show business career that has spanned more than eighty years, and for sixty of them, she has been one of the most famous and beloved voices in animation. Often referred to as "The First Lady of Cartoon Voices," Ms. Foray has lent her voice to such famous characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale on "The Bullwinkle Show," Nell Fenwick on "The Dudley Do-Right Show," Cindy Lou Who in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Granny, the owner of Tweety and Sylvester on "The Bugs Bunny Show," and Jokey Smurf on "The Smurfs." Most recently, Ms. Foray received the 2012 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for her work on "The Garfield Show." She continues working to this day providing the voice of Granny on the Looney Tunes Show and Magica DeSpell for the DuckTales remastered video game, as well as voicing several new characters in a series of Independent Animated short films produced by TDA Animation.

"Each year the Board of Governors recognizes a person or organization whose contributions to our industry will forever live on," said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum. "June Foray absolutely embodies everything that this honor represents. A legend and a pioneer, June is not only in a class of her own, but she literally created that class. There is simply no one more deserving of this honor."

Ms. Foray exhibited talent at an early age, appearing on local radio dramas as young as 12 years old. By the time she was 15, she was working steadily on a wide array of series playing roles that were often much older than her. After graduating high school, Ms. Foray moved out to Los Angeles to focus on radio full time. Once television came along, Ms. Foray landed roles on Johnny Carson's first TV series, "Carson's Cellar," and dozens of other programs including "Andy's Gang." One of her first animated roles was voicing the character of Lucifer the Cat in 1950 for Disney's "Cinderella." This led to many more Disney roles for Ms. Foray, both in front of the microphone and also posing occasionally as a model to aid the animators. In addition to animated roles, Ms. Foray's voice was also heard on hundreds of live-action TV shows, including "Baretta," "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.," "Green Acres" and "The Twilight Zone". She has been heard (but not seen) in dozens of motion pictures including "Jaws," "Bells Are Ringing," "The Hospital" and "The Comic."

Created in 1978, the Governors Award salutes an individual, company or organization that has made a substantial impact and demonstrated the extraordinary use of television. A Governors Award Selection Committee presents up to seven candidates for the Board of Governors' review and final vote. There is a possibility of one or no award every year. The award will be presented during the 2013 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards on Sunday, September 15th, at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. A two-hour, edited presentation of the Creative Arts Emmys will air Saturday, September 21st at 9:00 PM (ET/PT) on FXX.

Like the man said: No one more deserving.

I'm giving up reading all these articles about whether we should or shouldn't bomb Syria. I'm not sure why I even think I need an opinion on this because, you know, it's not like Obama's going to turn to his staff and say, "Wait…before I decide, I want to get advice from someone who works on Groo the Wanderer comic books!" They're going to do what they're going to do and what I see now is everyone in Washington scrambling for position. That position seems to be to recommend or not recommend the bombing in such a way that however it turns out, they can say they were on the right side of the issue.

There are, however, some folks out there with the guts to take a firm stand. Over at The Weekly Standard, they've posted an open letter entitled, "Experts to Obama: Here Is What to Do in Syria." And of course, it's always nice to have experts weigh in…

…until you look closer at the letter and realize that the "experts" are mostly people who were utterly and totally wrong about what we should do in Iraq — you know, the folks who said it would be over in two months with minimal loss of American lives and our soldiers being greeted as liberators who made Iraq stable. This is kinda like getting expert advice on how to be mayor of a big city and then you notice it comes from Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner.

The other day, Bill Clinton said, "A great democracy does not make it harder to vote than to buy an assault weapon." Is that so? Is it really harder? Alex Seitz-Wald did some investigating and concluded that in some parts of this country, it is.

The Hero Initiative is a charity that raises funds to help out professionals in the comic book industry, especially those who did their major work at a time when the industry didn't take very good care (in some cases, any) of its writers and artists. In memory of Jack Kirby, a special Initiative initiative is being mounted, spearheaded by Jack's granddaughter, Jillian. Jillian never knew her magical grandpa but she sure inherited his compassion for his fellow professionals. Want to honor the memory of Jack Kirby? Want to do some good for others in his line of work? You can do both at the same time. Read about it here.

June Foray, the first lady of cartoon voicing, will turn 96 next month — on 9/18, to be precise. Something very wonderful is going to happen a few days before that but I can't tell you what it is yet. Tune in here tomorrow when I can.

Gene Lyons on G.O.P. talk of impeaching Barack Obama. He's right that the chatter is all about huckster politicians trying to drum up support and cash from people who are so deranged about Obama that they'll rally to talk like that.

I have a special e-mail address that I use when I have to sign up on odd websites to read stuff. Each week or two, that address gets a message from someone who essentially says, "Don't you hate Hillary Clinton? I know how to destroy her if you'll only give me money." He comes up with all sorts of outrages she's committed, inarguable crimes that will put her behind bars, etc. I've been getting these since before she was elected Senator from New York, before she was Secretary of State, etc. She keeps succeeding and this guy keeps promising that if only folks would send him more cash, she'd be on Death Row somewhere. He keeps sending these e-mails so they must be worth his time…

In the same sense, there's bucks and attention to be harvested by telling the right crowd that Obama must be impeached. And that crowd is so eager to undo his election as President (twice!) that you don't even have to have a high crime or misdemeanor in mind…