Category Archives: To Be Filed

Obamacare is "the largest tax increase in the history of the world?" Not true. It isn't even as big as that one Reagan signed. But from now 'til Election Day, we're going to hear that it is because, you know, we shouldn't let math get in the way of a good talking point.

An "iso shot" in TV or movies is the feed from a camera acting independently from the main array, whether it's one or four or whatever. "Iso" is short for "isolated." For instance, a director on a TV show shot with three cameras might also have a fourth camera called an "iso" that is there to grab random shots outside of the main plan. Or a director on a movie with one camera might have a second camera around to grab a shot of something from a different angle. It's kind of like a bonus camera.

Two weeks from today, we'll be staggering around the San Diego Convention Center on not enough asleep, trying to make the best of the waning hours of the 2012 Comic-Con International and wishing it could go a few more days, if only to put off the arduous trip home to wherever we came from. We will also be attending events on its Sunday programming schedule, especially the ones below that involve me…

10AM-11:00 – The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel
There might not be a comic book industry were it not for Jack Kirby…and if you don't know who that is, you really don't belong at this convention. Each year, his friends and co-workers gather to talk about Jack and his work and to marvel (no pun intended) at the length and breadth of his influence, not just on comics but on TV, movies, and all the arts. This year, the dais will include Herb Trimpe (Incredible Hulk), Stan Goldberg (Marvel colorist), Paul Dini (Batman), and Charles Hatfield (Hand of Fire), all chatting with moderator Mark Evanier (Kirby: King of Comics). Room 5AB

11:30AM-12:45 -Cartoon Voices II
It's the second of two panels this weekend featuring folks who supply the voices of your favorite animated characters. Moderator Mark Evanier will interrogate them about how they do what they do, ask them how they came to do what they do, and make them demonstrate what they do. Their ranks this time will include Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad, SpongeBob SquarePants), Rob Paulsen (Pinky and the Brain, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Audrey Wasilewski (The Garfield Show, My Life as a Teenage Robot), Jim Ward (The Avengers, The Fairly OddParents), Gregg Berger (The Garfield Show, Transformers), and Misty Lee (The Garfield Show, Spider-Man). Room 6A

2:00-3:00 Cover Story
Comic-Con's annual discussion about the art of the comic book cover. Mark Evanier interviews special guests Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead), Tim Bradstreet (The Punisher), Becky Cloonan (Conan), and Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales) about their cover work, including design, execution, and what worked – and didn't – on some of their very own covers. Room 25ABC

3:00-4:00 The Business of Cartoon Voices
Have you ever been interested in a career doing voices for animated cartoons? Every year, voice director Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show) gathers together experienced actors and folks involved in casting and hiring and presents an informational panel on how the business works and how to avoid the most common mistakes of aspiring voice performers. The odds are against you, but they might get a little better if someone speaks the truth to you about what to expect and why. Room 25ABC

One correction on the above: Jim Ward is moving from the Sunday Cartoon Voice Panel to Saturday, swapping places with Fred Tatasciore. So Fred will be on the Sunday panel. Also, I think I'm on another panel at 1:00 that mysteriously fell off the schedule. I'll let you know if it falls back on.

And I'd like to call your attention to my 3:00 panel, which I think is actually running until 4:30. My buddy, the late Earl Kress, and I were annoyed about some of the folks going around and exploiting young, wanna-be voice actors by charging them vast sums of cash for useless classes and useless coaching. To try and do something to stop this or at least whittle it down, we started this annual panel which is designed to give beginners some real, pragmatic info for free. I'm bringing in a couple of agents and some voice actors (I think we'll have Debi Derryberry, Rob Paulsen and Gregg Berger) and maybe a casting director to explain the biz and answer questions. These are not folks who'll say to you, "Oh, sure. Give me money and you'll have Billy West's career before the week is out." If you're interested in this field and in hearing truth as opposed to a sales pitch, check it out. This is one of my favorite things to do at the con because I can see that it actually helps people.

I'll tell you more about some of my other panels in the days before the con, fewer and fewer though they may be.

Here, delayed a day because I just plain forgot, is Part Two of The Top 10 Best Abbott and Costello Routines in the opinion of the guy who put this video together. Two things worth noting about these bits…

One is that almost all are old burlesque sketches that have been laundered and reconfigured. Bud and Lou originated none of them. They had on the payroll a writer named John Grant, a former burlesque producer (and according to some accounts, performer) who had a file with every sketch ever performed in burley-q. No matter what writer authored a screenplay, teleplay or radio script for Abbott and Costello to perform, Grant would be called in to insert and recalibrate time-tested burlesque material.

Second interesting thing: Costello was very bad at doing multiple takes of a scene and would sometimes refuse. He'd do it twice and then walk off the set, proclaiming that the director was incompetent if he needed more than that. In one-camera filmmaking, you need to do it several times from several different angles so Abbott and Costello movies were generally shot with two cameras — one trained wholly on Lou — at least during comedy routines. The packing/unpacking routine in here was obviously shot with a master shot that included Abbott and an iso shot of mainly Costello, and the portion of the scene excerpted for this video just used the iso shot.

Take a look…

There was a Tea Party person on C-Span a little while ago going on and on about how we have to do away with the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") so we can retain control over doctor-patient relationships. I actually worked my way through a couple of detailed explanations of the A.C.A. and that led me to the conclusion that much of the opposition to it flows from folks who have no clue what's actually in it, folks who do know but have decided to fib in order to rally the troops against it, and maybe folks who currently have some phenomenal health insurance that covers absolutely everything including pre-existing conditions and every single procedure and prescription that might be ordered by any doctor they go to.

This thing about "doctor-patient relationships" really stuns me. First off, I don't think these folks get that under the A.C.A., if you presently have health insurance, that will not change. Mine won't. I mean, it might change in ways that it would change with no Obamacare in the land and my premiums will surely go up (and up and up…) as health insurance premiums always do. The A.C.A. might actually lower them a tad but I'm sure not counting on that, and I'll be satisfied if we can just make them rise slower than my blood pressure does when I deal with my insurance company.

I'm with one of the five biggest health insurers in the land. They're always interfering with my relationship with my doctors, telling me they won't cover this or that. They recently decided to stop paying for a very expensive medicine one of my doctors has me on and recommended several others he could prescribe instead. He didn't like any of them as much so he gave me as many free samples as he could scrounge up and I'm now paying out-of-pocket for the balance of what I need. If I couldn't afford to do that then my insurance company would have effectively forced me into a medication other than the one my doctor recommended.

And the system as it stands interferes all the time. The best physician I ever had changed firms and my insurance was worthless at the new firm. But if I'd changed insurers to one that paid for him at the new firm (a big expense of time and money), the new insurer wouldn't have covered my gastroenterologist of choice. One insurance company or another would be telling me I couldn't have the guy I wanted to have treat me.

If Obamacare did that kind of thing (which it does not), opponents of that bill would scream that it's government-controlled health care that interferes with my relationship with my doctors…but they're fine with having Delta or Anthem or Blue Shield make those decrees. They think it should be a totally "open market" and don't get that it would still be just as much of one under the A.C.A.

The guy on C-Span was claiming falsely that under Obamacare, none of us could pick the insurance company we want to have cover us and it's of paramount importance that we be able to do that. If I could have spoken with him, I would have said, "You're right. I'd like to be able to pick the Public Option because I'm sick of being insured by a company motivated wholly by profits. Do you agree that folks like me should be able to make that choice? Or how do you feel about making Medicare available to all? Should Americans have the right to choose that?"

Ezra Klein on the Republican attitude about health insurance. Not that long ago, they wanted everyone to have it…or at least, they said they wanted everyone to have it. But now they're fighting for proposals that if successful would cause 40-50 million Americans who'd otherwise have health insurance to not have health insurance.

Two weeks from today at this moment, everyone at Comic-Con in San Diego will have mixed emotions about the realization that tomorrow is the last day. But they'll be talking excitedly about the great panels and program events they attended that day. Here's the whole schedule for Saturday and here are the items where people will have to listen, at least a little, to me…

10AM-11:00 – That 70s Panel
A look at comics in the seventies. Some now call it the Bronze Age, but by any name it was an exciting time to be reading comics. Moderator Mark Evanier (Scooby Doo) leads a discussion including Marv Wolfman (Tomb of Dracula), Steve Skeates (Aquaman), Steve Englehart (Batman), Herb Trimpe (Incredible Hulk), Elliot S! Maggin (Superman), Trevor Von Eeden (Black Lightning), and Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes). Room 23ABC

11:45AM-1:00 – Quick Draw!
It's the annual battle-to-the-death with Sharpies at 20 paces. Three of the fastest cartoonists in the world duel with wit and markers, drawing like crazy to create cartoons based on your suggestions and the evil schemes of the Quick Draw! Quizmaster, Mark Evanier! Competing as usual are Sergio Aragonés (MAD magazine, Groo the Wanderer) and Scott Shaw! (The Simpsons), and they're joined by guest competitor Keith Knight (The K Chronicles), and maybe a few surprises! This is one of the most popular events at Comic-Con, so get there early. Room 6BCF

1:00-2:00 – Cartoon Voices I
Audiences flock each year to moderator Mark Evanier's panels of folks who supply the voices of your favorite animated characters. They demonstrate their craft and tell who they are and how they got into that bizarre line of work, and you'll hear a voice session happen right before your ears. This year's Saturday gathering features Matthew Mercer (ThunderCats, Resident Evil 6), Debi Derryberry (Jimmy Neutron, Monster High), April Winchell (Lilo & Stitch, The Legend of Tarzan), Steve Blum (Transformers, The Super Hero Squad Show), Fred Tatasciore (Kung Fu Panda, The Hulk), Jack Angel (Toy Story 3, G.I. Joe), and the legendary Chuck McCann. Room 6BCF

6:00-7:30 – A Tribute to the Legendary Ray Bradbury
Some called him the greatest writer of fantasy of all time. He was a writer of legendary science fiction, an inspiration to generations, and a good friend of Comic-Con. We lost him on June 5 and now many of his friends and colleagues gather to celebrate this extraordinary figure. The guest list is still being finalized as this guide goes to press, but it should include authors William F. Nolan, George Clayton Johnson, Marc Scott Zicree, Joe Hill, and Margaret Atwood, along with figures from the worlds of motion pictures and television. Your hosts are Bradbury biographer Sam Weller (Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury) and Comic-Con special guest Mark Evanier. Attendees are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite Bradbury character. Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront

That's how these items are going to press in the schedule but we already have some changes. We want Keith Knight to join us for Quick Draw! Keith Knight is dying to join us for Quick Draw! But Keith Knight is also scheduled on another panel at the same time as Quick Draw! So we have to figure that out. Also, Fred Tatasciore is moved to the Sunday Cartoon Voices panel and his place will be taken by the versatile Jim Ward, who's done so many things I'm just going to send you to his Wikipedia page.

Lastly (for now), we just added Stan Freberg to the list of those speaking at the Ray Bradbury Tribute and we have more big surprise names to add. I'll tell you about them here as soon as I'm able to but for now, just trust me: You won't want to miss this one.

My Cousin David (who's also a writer and you can browse and order his fine books here) sent me this link to an article all about Sylvia Lewis. Who's Sylvia Lewis? Well, she once kissed Shemp Howard. Doesn't that count for something? Read what else she did.

Here's my pal Pete Barbutti doing what he does better than just about anybody: Just telling a joke…

For reasons that will someday be told here as part of a long tale, I spent a good chunk of yesterday in a police station speaking with detectives and other such folks. Having to take actions that will surely put someone behind bars is for me a joyless experience even though this person really, really deserves it. The best I'm hoping for is a sensation of relief the way you're satisfied to put any annoying task behind you and to not have to handle it any longer.

Being in a police station is, of course, fascinating. The place is active 24/7 and as one of the detectives told me, there are times when it's one or two people coming in with problems and complaints, and there are times when half the world seems to be streaming in through that door. I asked him if there was a "busiest" time of day — Morning? Afternoon? After Midnight? He said no, it could be four in the afternoon or four in the morning but it's like someone just announced on all channels, "Quick! Everyone rush to the police station in tears!"

My overwhelming impression as I've been handling this matter is that the L.A.P.D. (and I'll bet other P.D.s in other burgs) is in desperate need of about five times the manpower; that one reason there's as much crime as there is is that it's possible to commit one and if no victim is left dying or desperate, the cops do not come to arrest or investigate for months. The person I'm sending to the slammer probably thinks they "got away with it" in the past because their past thefts are "Cat 2." That's police talk for "Category 2," which means "handle when somebody here has the time."

I'm real well-organized and in full control of the case in which I'm involved. I wrote up a report that explained matters in detail and includes all the relevant documents and evidence. One of the lead detectives paged through it and said, "You've already done all the legwork for us. It's all here. I could handle this one in my sleep." Then he sighed apologetically and said, "I'll try to move you up in the pile but we have all these ahead of you." He then gestured towards a shelf of files than would keep Joe Friday busy for a year. During that time, Claude Cooper (the kleptomaniac from Cleveland) would probably think he'd "gotten away with it" and would go out and cop more clean copper clappers from someone else's closet.

As I waited for this or that to get done, I couldn't help but overhear others who were in to seek a little justice. There was a striking Asian woman who wanted her former boy friend arrested and beheaded within the hour for, in effect, stealing every last thing she owned in the world. The officer making out her report (in longhand on paper with a #2 pencil in the year 2012) was trying to get the facts he needed — "just the facts" — but she was determined to tell her sad tale in full with many details he did not need and didn't have time for. These included explicit descriptions of her lovemaking with the "ex" who was screwing her one way while screwing her another. It almost came down to her asking, "How could this bastard have stolen my car and my checking account when I was so good to him in bed?"

Throughout, the overworked officer kept shooting me little looks that said, "See what I have to deal with all day?" I got more of them as he dealt with the next persons in line: A couple from Georgia who'd come to L.A. and had been living in their car — a car that had now been either stolen or repossessed leaving them literally penniless. It was another "everything I [we] owned in the world" matter and it made me really understand why my case was not a "Cat 1."

Actually, I'm dealing with two similar offenses. This was my third visit to this station to discuss the first and my first to discuss the second. In my three times there, I have seen nothing relating to crimes of violence. I have seen no lulls in activity. I have seen no L.A.P.D. employees who were not utterly polite and efficient and — most of all — compassionate. And underscoring it all, you sense a basic frustration among them all that they can't do more for these people; that they haven't the resources to make these problems go away as rapidly as they might. Watching cop shows has given many the false sense that the police can resolve matters in an hour minus time for commercials and station breaks. It doesn't work like that. Wish it did.

Dick Cavett remembers Nora Ephron.

Here's Part One of a two-part posting — The Top 10 Best Abbott & Costello Routines. The bellhop you'll see in the first one is Walter Tetley who later provided the voice of Sherman in the original Mr. Peabody cartoons by Jay Ward and Bill Scott. Part Two tomorrow…

Ezra Klein explains the basic dishonesty in Mitt Romney's attacks on "Obamacare." But really, I don't think the details matter to a lot of people. Romney could go out now and claim we have to repeal the bill because it calls for mandatory anal probes and killing kittens…and most of his base would pick up on that.

They don't hate the bill. They don't know what's in the bill. And this week, they hate something more than they hate Obama or Democrats or having the White House occupied by a Black Socialist Muslim Kenyan who wants to ban their religion and take away their guns. This week, what they really hate is losing a battle they were sure they'd won.

Hard to believe that two weeks from now, a lot of us will be wandering the halls at Comic-Con International, comparing notes on who had the roughest trip to get there…but admitting it's worth the hassle. They've posted the Friday Programming Guide so go take a look and see what you want to see. To save you searching about, here's a list of what I'm hosting on Friday…

10 AM-11:00 – Remembering Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon
Jerry Robinson was a key artist on Batman in the 1940s, the co-creator of The Joker, and later an accomplished newspaper strip artist and political cartoonist. Joe Simon was half of the legendary team of Simon and [Jack] Kirby, the co-creator of Captain America and other Simon-Kirby classics, and later the creator/editor of Sick magazine. We've recently lost both of these legendary figures in comics, so let's pause to remember them along with Paul Levitz, Michael Uslan, Anthony Tollin, Marv Wolfman, Paul Dini, Batton Lash, and moderator Mark Evanier. Room 9

11 AM-NOON – Siegel and Shuster and Finger
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created a character you may have heard of. Bill Finger co-created one or two himself. These men are the subjects of two new books that unlock many secrets as to how some young men gave the world some of the greatest icons of fantasy ever. Hear Larry Tye (author of Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero) and Marc Tyler Nobleman (author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman) as both discuss their works with moderator Mark Evanier. Room 9

4:30-5:30 – 50th Anniversary of Marvel Superheroes
Fifty years ago Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, Don Heck, and Larry Lieber created the Marvel Age of Comics when they introduced the Incredible Hulk, the Amazing Spider-Man, the Mighty Thor, the Astonishing Ant-Man, and the Invincible Iron Man, all in the course of one short year, 1962. Those characters have shown incredible endurance and staying power, still thrilling audiences today, on both the page and screen. Mark Evanier talks to Comic-Con special guests Stan Goldberg (a Marvel cartoonist and colorist in that storied year) and Incredible Hulk artist Herb Trimpe about the heroes that still thrill us five decades later. Room 5AB

If you're attending the con, do yourself a favor and study the entire programming schedule, which will all be up as of Sunday. Make notes about things you don't want to miss. Every year, I have to listen to sad laments from people who didn't do this, missed something vital and now apparently think that if they tell me how foolish they were, I will reconvene the panel they missed and do it all over again just for them. Don't be one of those unfortunate souls.

Number two hundred and sixty-eight in a series…