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And I should add that when I first posted the previous message, I muddied things up even worse so I rewrote it to make it clearer. And I should thank Jim Amash for coming to my aid on this.

I mucked up the obit for Alvin Schwartz a bit, muddling the issue of who created the Bizarro character in the Superman family of comics.

Bizarro first appeared in print in Superboy #68, which was written by Otto Binder. Bizarro second appeared in print in the Superman newspaper strip, which was written by Alvin. Both were supervised by editor Mort Weisinger. Alvin always said that he created the character. I'm not sure if he wrote the script for the newspaper feature first or merely came up with the concept and sold Weisinger on it but he definitely said it was all his idea.

There is no record of whether Mssrs. Weisinger or Binder concurred with this history and since all three are now deceased, that's probably how the factual recital will remain. It would certainly not have been unusual for the scripts to have been written in a different sequence than their publication dates, and Weisinger was notorious for taking an idea pitched by one of his writers and assigning it to another.

In any case, Alvin says he came up with the idea and, not that this is proof of anything, he sure never struck me as the kind of guy to take credit for someone else's work. In any case, he refined and expanded on the idea in the newspaper strip and the Bizarro that people know and remember is surely more the invention of Schwartz than Binder. I should have been clearer in what I wrote and have amended the posting accordingly. I'm sorry…or as Bizarro #1 or Michele Bachmann would say, "Me am not sorry."

Longtime readers of this blog may recall that back in '08, they watched from afar as I dealt with the problem of a stray pregnant pussycat in my backyard. The adventure was serialized here over many days and if you want to read it, go to this posting and then read forward for a while until the matter gets resolved. Don't worry…it has a happy ending.

Before we got to that though, it was quite a struggle and it made me acutely aware of one of those problems that few people like to think about. If I told you that some crazy person was going around murdering cats and had slaughtered thousands of them, you'd be horrified and you'd say, "Someone's got to stop that sicko and lock him away for the rest of his life." But in fact, your tax dollars pay to have perfectly-healthy cats "put to sleep" (i.e., killed) all the time and the numbers are staggering.

I currently feed four feral cats in my backyard, one of them the cat in the above-linked thread. She is now well and happy and not a mother. My situation here is manageable but it is not manageable in at least one area of Los Angeles that is overrun with feral felines. Here is an article about the situation and it should serve as a cautionary tale of what can happen if you don't pay attention to the situation before the local cats breed exponentially and there are way, way too many of them.

In the article, you'll see a photo of a lady named Christi Metropole who founded The Stray Cat Alliance, a charity that is attempting to deal with this matter. When I had my problem, she was the person I spoke to and she told me how to do what I did. I'm sending the group a donation and if you appreciate this blog and want to do something nice for me, perhaps you can do the same.

Sadly but not unexpectedly, I've received sufficient confirmation of the passing of comic book writer Alvin Schwartz. I'll post something later today about this lovely man.

A few of you have written in to question whether that newspaper item that confused the word "moot" with "mute" was really a typo. They all thought it was actually a matter of some reporter not knowing the difference between the two words, which would not be a typo, per se. Perhaps. But in these days of spell-checkers, it's not at all odd for someone to type the correct word and then not notice when the spell-checker "corrects" it into the wrong word. That's happened to me on occasion and I have to tell you, it really passes me off.

Several readers — most recently, David Serchay — have written to ask what's up with the Magic Castle. As you may have heard, the esteemed private club for magicians in Hollywood had an ironic fire on Halloween afternoon — ironic because the building had been decked out with special lights that, that evening, would have made it look like it was ablaze and all the ads for the big Halloween Party (which of course had to be cancelled) proclaimed it would be held in the midst of an "Inferno."

I'm not a representative of the club (just a member) but I can tell you what I know. The fire, they're saying, was started by a roofer with some sort of torch. Most of what was burned was in the attic where offices were located and a lot of computers and desks were destroyed. The more lasting, hard-to-replace damage was from water — either from fire hoses or the sprinkler system.

The Castle is kind of a magic trick in and of itself. It looks a lot bigger on the inside than it does from the outside. That's because, to give away the secret, it's really not one house as it appears to be. The main structure pictured above is the former Rollin B. Lane mansion built in 1909. It was rented and refurbished by the Larsen Brothers, Bill and Milt, commencing in 1961 and it opened as a club in 1963. It expanded soon into an adjoining structure with the two buildings chained together seamlessly, plus they dug into the hillside for further expansion. The water damage has closed down most of the Lane mansion but the add-on was largely untouched and has reopened for business. It houses most of the showrooms so it's now possible to go and enjoy about half of the Magic Castle experience. That is, if you're a member or you have a guest pass from a member.

(When the fire occurred, the first question all the members had after they heard no one was injured, was "Is the library okay?" Among the wonders of the Castle is one of the most extensive collections of magic-related documents and books on the planet. Fortunately, the library is in the annex that escaped the fire and the H2O.)

Crews are working night 'n' day to restore the rest of the Castle. I'm hearing different estimates of how long before the work will be completed and I guess the answer is that no one really knows.

I love the Castle. I first went there around 1980. I was then seeing a lady named Bridget (this person) and she was working as an assistant to a terrific magician named Chuck Jones (this person). Chuck — no relation to the famed cartoon director — was a kids' show host in L.A. in the sixties and I wanted to see him as much as I wanted to see Bridget sawed in half. Actually, to repurpose an old Henny Youngman joke, I was afraid if he cut her in half, I'd get the half that eats.

It was such a wonderful place, I couldn't resist. I joined the Castle as an Associate Member a week later and later demonstrated enough expertise in magic that they upgraded me to a full Magician Member. Oddly enough, I probably do less magic now because I go to the Castle, see the best in the world perform and decide I am not fit to ask anyone to pick a card, any card.

Above and beyond being a fun venue to take friends to dine and watch shows, it's also the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. You don't really join the Magic Castle when you join. You join the Academy. At times, it really feels like a club and never more so than in the weeks since the fire. That roofer with his torch caused a lot of destruction but he also reminded us all how much we treasure the Castle and would hate to ever lose it. There's been a tremendous rallying with everyone offering to help and donating funds. The Castle carried pretty good insurance and I would imagine whatever policies the roofing company had will be paying a nice piece o' change, as well. But when does insurance ever cover every single dime of loss?

That's just about all I know about this. The Castle has a superb staff that has a good track record for working miracles. It would not surprise me if our clubhouse is made whole again sooner than anyone imagines. When it is, a lot of members are eager to rush in, see it again, touch it and appreciate it more than ever.

A number of online comic forums have reported the passing of Alvin Schwartz about a week ago. This is the Alvin Schwartz who wrote Superman, Batman and other comic books back in the forties and fifties, and who was one of our two recipients of the Bill Finger Award in 2006. He was our "living" honoree and though he was too ill that year to attend there ceremony, he was unquestionably living then. And, by the way, pleased and grateful.

Since Mr. Schwartz was born in 1916, his passing is well within the realm of possibility…and knowing him, he'd probably chuckle and say "probability." Still, I have my own little rules of sourcing that I have to follow to report someone's death and since they haven't been met, I am not reporting that Alvin Schwartz has left us. I'm just reporting that some other folks are saying it.

If anyone reading this can offer any hard information, I would appreciate an e-mail. And please do not confuse him with the other Alvin Schwartz, who wrote the popular series of kids' books called Scary Stories. That Alvin Schwartz died in 1992.

From the L.A. Times at this moment…

Not much to report about last night's event at the Writers Guild other than that Earl and Dwayne were suitably honored and memorialized. A lot of the right things were said. Some tears flowed. Many friends were together. There was a lovely chocolate fountain on the dessert table.

Non-Lambeth posting may be light here today as I have much to do, including getting a cavity filled. My dentist's office is directly across the street from Larry Flynt's office. One of the employees there (not my dentist) brought in a pair of binoculars when they moved in there, somehow thinking this would enable him to glimpse nude models cavorting in the high-rise on the opposite side of La Cienega Boulevard. So far, this has not happened. The last time we discussed it, he reported that with a sigh then added, "Of course, looking at the bright side, I also haven't seen Larry."

And here's Daily Variety on tonight's event at the Writers Guild, complete with a photo of Earl that I took of him on his wedding day, about ten minutes before the ceremony. I like that picture because although Earl was a pretty happy guy — at least until he got sick — that was the happiest I ever recall him being.

This evening the Writers Guild of America, West is honoring (sadly, posthumously) Earl Kress and Dwayne McDuffie, who have each been voted this year's WGAw Animation Writing Award. I'll be making the presentation to Earl's spouse and partner, Denise Kress. Here's what the Hollywood Reporter has to say about it all.

Last week here, I gave a glowing account of the new CGI Tweety & Sylvester short which has been animated to a voice track that Mel Blanc did for a kids' record back in the fifties. The film can be viewed if you go see Happy Feet 2 but if you don't want to do that, you can catch a little bit of it over on this website. As I said, once you get past the notion of seeing those characters with three dimensions and real textures, I think it's pretty good and pretty faithful.

Doug Manchester is the gentleman who built the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, and his company also had some sort of financial involvement I won't pretend I understand in the financing of the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina next door. Those are two of the key hotels affiliated with (and filled with guests visiting) the San Diego Convention Center. That, of course, is all connected to the annual Comic-Con in San Diego. He had a lot to do with the redevelopment of that whole portion of the city from a swamp of dive bars and massage parlors to a genuine tourist mecca.

Mr. Manchester has, you may be unsurprised to learn, a lot of money. He has a history of philanthropy which would be nice but "Papa Doug" (as he is actually called on his website) put a lot of his money into California's Proposition 8, the law that for a time banned Gay Marriage in the state. Many who were outraged about this could not help pointing up the irony. Manchester defended his financial support for the measure telling reporters it was because of "my Catholic faith and longtime affiliation with the Catholic Church." Soon after, he got into a seemingly unCatholic assault on the institution of marriage…a messy, accusation-filled divorce from his wife of 43 years.

As of today, Proposition 8 is back in play. It was ruled unconstitutional but now the California State Supreme Court has given its backers a chance to defend it in federal courts, which probably means the U.S. Supreme Court eventually. About an hour ago, I received an e-mail from a gay rights activist vowing to mount a huge boycott of the Manchester Grand Hyatt during the 2012 Comic-Con as a means of pressuring and/or condemning Papa Doug. I wrote back to the activist to inform him that he's misdirecting his anger. Last March, Doug Manchester sold off all his interests in the Manchester Grand Hyatt. We can all stay there again without feeling we're putting money into a bank account that helped make Prop 8 happen.

If you do want to boycott Mr. Manchester, he has other enterprises you can not patronize. Today, it was also announced that Mr. Manchester has purchased the San Diego Union-Tribune, a major newspaper in that town. There is a bit of controversy there, as well. Manchester has been pushing redevelopment project in another part of San Diego and there has been opposition, much of it for environmental concerns. A week or two ago, the Union-Tribune editorialized strongly in favor of letting Manchester's project proceed…without mentioning that Manchester was about to close a deal to purchase the newspaper and…well, here. Read about it if you're interested. If you need me, I'll be doing the Lambeth Walk.

There was an event in Georgia this past weekend I wish I could have attended: A seminar with a whole buncha guys who've worked for MAD for years and years and years…one guy even dating back to the first issue in 1952. They were Nick Meglin, Paul Coker, Sergio Aragonés, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, Sam Viviano and Tom Richmond. It is Tom Richmond (aka "The New Kid") who favors us with a great report.

Someone just directed me to a website where you are given a fixed amount of time to type in all the entries in a list. I aced the one where you name all the Marx Brothers movies and the one where you name all of Stephen Sondheim's shows. I also got 92 out of 105, which is damn good, naming all the Laurel & Hardy movies and missed only three naming the Abbott & Costello movies.

I didn't do as well on stuff I worked on like naming the major characters in Groo the Wanderer and if you gave me a week and a big cash prize, I couldn't have filled in the name of every episode of Garfield and Friends. And I really humiliated myself on the one that challenges you to name 137 characters created or co-created by Jack Kirby.