Category Archives: Uncategorized

Geoff Boucher takes a look at the collaboration of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Sorry again to be too busy to post much lately. This will change.

So I go to an appointment in a medical building on La Cienega Boulevard today and I'm waiting for the elevator. Along comes a man who is also waiting for said elevator. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye and I say to myself, "That's Christopher Hitchens." Then I turn and look more directly at him and I realize that he's not Christopher Hitchens. Not at all. Looks an awful lot like him but isn't.

I do not say one word to the man but he sees me looking at him and informs me, "I'm not Christopher Hitchens."

I laugh and say, "How many times a day do you have to say that?" He replies, "There's a certain look some people have…I'm afraid they're going to start yelling at me or trying to debate. Some people have."

Just then, the elevator arrives. We get in, I select my floor and I ask him which one he needs. He tells me, I punch it in and I say to him, "That's a plastic surgeon, I presume?"

He says, "No, but I've considered it."

That's the end of that story. Coming up in a day or so here: Why I like Jay Leno but I'm having a hard time liking his new show. Based on the ratings, I'm obviously not alone in this dilemma.

Every so often the last decade or so, we get a little stark reminder of how computers are changing the world, making some businesses obsolete. Around 1990, every typesetting house I'd ever used in Los Angeles went out of business. What had once cost $100 could now be done for free by any kid with Microsoft Word and a good set of fonts. Other markers of this kind come along from time to time. The latest for me is the announcement that the Graphix company is discontinuing its Unishade and Duoshade illustration board. I think they were the last company in the world that made this kind of art paper.

Explaining what it is will be easier if I just focus on the Duoshade variety. Duoshade board is art paper that has two patterns printed on it in different invisible inks. When you buy the paper, you also get little vials of developer fluids that make the invisible ink visible. You do your drawing in black ink and then when it comes time to add "tones" to it, you employ the developer fluids. One developer fluid brings out pattern #1, which in the example here is a pattern of lines that create a (roughly) 25% grey area on the page wherever the fluid is applied. The other developer brings out a 50% pattern. You can see this better in the enlargement below…

This, by the way, is an illustration that Jack Davis did for one of the MAD paperback books.

As you can see, what results is a drawing with two halftone patterns on it. A printer can shoot the page as line art because the "grey tones" are already screened. The paper has been used often for black-and-white illustration work, or sometimes artists employ the Unishade kind which only has one pattern. It came in very handy for years…but now that so much art is being done on computer, the halftone tools in Photoshop have rendered it obsolete. Just another thing that's gone away on us…

This is kind of a morbid topic but we've talked about it in the past. I'm speaking of the "In Memoriam" segment on the Emmy Awards. Usually, these things have a cut-off — nobody who died within X weeks of the telecast gets in. But this time, someone did some last-minute editing and included Patrick Swayze, Larry Gelbart and Henry Gibson, which was nice.

Among those who didn't get in: Jack Narz, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Robert Novak, Don Galloway, Mr. Blackwell, Billy Mays and Beverly Garland. I always feel a bit sad for the loved ones of someone like that who doesn't make the cut. Jack Narz logged an awful lot of hours of television in his career so you wish they could have made room for a guy like that.

The first person in the montage was Edie Adams but I don't think most people saw her because the camera was slow to zoom in on the screen. They made the same mistake on the Tonys last year, as I recall…another shame. Edie Adams was a pretty important person in TV history.

Overall though, it was a nice 'n' classy tribute, especially with Sarah McLachlan singing, "I Will Remember You." Good choice. It might have ruined the moment if they'd brought up The Knack to sing, "My Sharona."

A number of e-mails asked me about DirecTV and if I like it better than my local cable options. Yes, I do. My local cable company is Time-Warner and about twice a day — via phone call, e-mail, paper mail or even someone coming to my door — I'm offered their service for increasingly low prices. If the trend continues, by November they'll be paying me to take their service.

But I don't want it. They keep saying, "We have 200 channels." Well, yes, but they're missing a number I enjoy, plus they don't have both the west coast and east coast network feeds which can be obtained in certain areas. I am in one such area so this makes it possible for the TiVo in my office to record the following each Monday through Friday for me…

• 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM — Countdown with Keith Olbermann*
• 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM — The Rachel Maddow Show*
• 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM — The Jay Leno Show
• 8:00 PM – 8:30 PM — The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• 8:35 PM – 9:35 PM — The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
• 9:35 PM – 10:35 PM — The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
• Then I used to record The Colbert Report from 11 PM 'til 11:30 but for reasons mentioned earlier here, I now record the 6:30 AM showing. Finally, there's…
• 11:35 PM – 12:35 PM — The Late Show with David Letterman

(*Before anyone accuses me of watching only Liberal shows on news channels, I only watch Olbermann when Olbermann's on, I rarely watch more than a little of Rachel if that much, and earlier in the day, I usually catch a random hour or so of whatever's on Fox. Hey, did you know Obama has appointed 82,000 "czars" and George W. Bush only had three?)

So you can see why I like getting the west coast and east coast network feeds. It makes it easy to record shows that are opposite each other. (For a brief time, I also TiVoed Late Night With Jimmy Fallon after Conan and recorded Ferguson after Letterman. But I rarely got around to watching Mr. Fallon's program so I unTiVoed it and moved Craig into that slot.)

I have another TiVo downstairs on which I can record any show I want that airs while the above programs are being recorded, and then I can transfer them upstairs to watch on my office TV. But this way, I get the regular shows directly on the office TiVo and can watch them as I work or blog or do Sudoku puzzles or whatever it is I do on my computer here.

Sometimes, I tell a Time-Warner hard-seller that I would consider their service if they had the east coast network feeds and if they ran stations like Comedy Central from an east coast feed. I would imagine there's some contractual reason why they can't do this but they never say that. They say, "Uh, we wouldn't want to take up a channel slot with something that just repeats what's on another channel earlier." No, but they'll take them up for multiple shopping channels or nineteen versions of Encore, MTV or ESPN. I suspect more subscribers would rather have two bites at CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox than to get every possible gospel and shop-at-home network. On the other hand, they do run CSPAN3, which DirecTV somehow refuses to pick up.

The reason I mention all this is to wonder: How long before CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox start encouraging cable companies to carry multiple feeds of the same programming? It could only increase viewership, which is something those networks fervently crave. It works so well for me I can't believe a lot of folks wouldn't like it. Even if I had a DVR that could record two channels at the same time, it's still handy to be able to watch shows earlier. I watched the Emmys three hours before anyone local with cable got to see it. Multiple feeding may not be the next step in television but I'll bet it's not far off down the line.

One interesting new business is taking hold in Los Angeles, and I would imagine elsewhere: Food trucks. These are like the old-style catering trucks but they visit different neighborhoods with food you'd actually want to eat. They roam about and you can find out where they're going to be on their websites or via Twitter.

This page tracks a number of them, including Barbie's Q, which is the only one there I've tried so far. About once a week, they park themselves for a few hours in a business district not far from my abode and they sell pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, primarily to folks who work in that area. I got one of each about two weeks ago and thought they were quite deelish. There are a few others I've heard about that may get my business if they come 'round.

That page, by the way, links to similar pages that track food trucks in San Francisco, Portland and New York.

October 19 through October 24. Creamy tomato soup at all outlets of Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes.

A few years ago, there were a couple of medical-type reports that said that second-hand smoke did you no real harm. I never thought those reports were particularly credible and, sure enough, we now have a new major study that says, among other things, that smoking bans in public places can reduce the number of heart attacks by as much as 36%.

Anyone surprised by this? I wouldn't think so. Even if you believed those studies that said second-hand smoke didn't hurt you, it's not that incredible to find out that maybe it does. I mean, it's not like someone has just come out with a report that claims Martians walk among us. Still, I was amazed at those who embraced the "no real harm" findings. One that comes to mind is the Penn & Teller show on Showtime, the name of which I'm not mentioning since doing so seems to lower my site's standing in some search engines.

I like that show even though I often disagree with its "findings"…and even though every time they set up one of their silly Candid Camera-style experiments, they prove absolutely nothing and pass it off as something. I just like skepticism and wish we had more of it in the media. In fact, I wish we had more skepticism of the skeptics since despite what some skeptics seem to think, going against the Conventional Wisdom doesn't automatically mean your wisdom is correct.

Their first season, Penn & Teller did a show about second-hand smoke and concluded it did not create health problems. As I recall, the supporting evidence was that one or two studies had said as much, and somehow these reports trumped all the many that had concluded otherwise. But what bothered me was that the show attacked people who were working to ban smoking in public places and treated them like they were scumbuckets pushing an outragous lie — like if they were claiming to talk to the dead or something — and bilking gullible folks of their life savings with the lie.

Since then, studies like the above-cited have convinced Penn & Teller that they were wrong, and they've admitted as much here and there, and I think they stuck a line in one later episode that said so. But it's kind of like a newspaper that gets it wrong on Page One, prints the later retraction in the classified ad section where no one will see it, and doesn't apologize to those it wronged. They weren't the only ones who did this, of course, or even the worst offenders. A lot of people let one or two reports of dubious pedigree overrule simple common sense. Second-hand smoke makes most people cough and feel ill. Doesn't that suggest that maybe, just maybe, it ain't good for you?

Sorry I haven't posted anything since last night. Busy day here.

Eighty-seven thousand, six hundred and twenty-three of you have e-mailed me to ask if I (a) know about the heirs of Jack Kirby filing for reclamation of a number of Marvel copyrights and (b) will be commenting here or anywhere? The answers to those questions are yes and no…in that order.

The mystery of the Colbert Report start times seems to have been solved. Comedy Central is simply jamming more commercials into certain of their more-watched shows and they don't care that it messes up those of us who record via TiVo or VCR for later viewing. Or so I'm told by a person who works for Comedy Central.

Several folks, by the way, were bewildered that I watch The Colbert Report at 11:00 PM since it doesn't air at that time on your set. Well, I do. I have DirecTV and on this coast, one can watch Dr. Colbert at 8:30 PM, 11:00 PM, 6:30 AM, 11:00 AM and 4:30 PM. The 11 PM showing follows an airing of The Daily Show at 10:30 PM and both are apparently crammed with extra commercials.

Lastly for now: I'm a big fan of Jay Leno but I'm growing disenchanted with The Jay Leno Show. Before the week is out, I hope to write a piece here that explains why. (Another "by the way" — I was trying to figure out who the show's so-far anonymous announcer is. I just did. Here's a hint for those of you who like to identify voice actors and announcers: He's been on one or more of my Cartoon Voices panels at the Comic-Con in San Diego. And I'm embarrassed I didn't recognize him the first night.)

Just to repeat here what I Twittered earlier: We oughta pass a law that Neil Patrick Harris will host all awards shows from now on. He was great on the Emmys…funny, brisk and well aware that the evening was not all about him. I don't have a lot to say about the awards themselves; just that there didn't seem to be any ghastly oversights or grave injustices. I thought the guy (I forget who it was) who thanked the agents who got him his award-winning job…and then thanked his new agents…was making a joke that would have gone over better with the crowd if it hadn't been so true.

This is currently up on some sites as part of the Associated Press Emmy coverage…

Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" was named the best comedy or variety show in the annual Emmy Awards. Blessed with an abundance of material during a presidential election, the show beat out David Letterman's "Late Show," "Saturday Night Live," "Real Time With Bill Maher" and "The Colbert (col-BEAR') Report (rap-PORE')"

I guess they put that in because some TV or radio newscasters use material from AP. But shouldn't anyone who's got a job reading press copy aloud know how to pronounce the name of that show? And isn't it "rep-PORE?"

Maxine Marx, daughter of Chico, passed away in her sleep early Monday morning, September 14, at the age of 91. She was a lovely lady with a nice background in acting and in teaching acting. Maxine was always accommodating to the many Marx Brothers fans who sought her out for interviews and info, and an awful lot of them became fans of this charming woman. I spent an evening with her about twenty years ago and while she had many great stories of her father and uncles, it was more fun to hear her talk about her own life and the many talented friends she'd acquired. Folks just liked Maxine and her legacy includes a lot of actors who cherish her tutelage.

It's times like this I wish I had an extra $60,000 to throw about. That's the opening bid (at this hour, unoffered) in an online auction of Walker Edmiston's Beany & Cecil memorabilia.

The late Mr. Edmiston was a brilliant actor, voice performer and puppeteer and in the fifties, he spent some time puppeteering for Bob Clampett on Time for Beany and Thunderbolt the Wonder Colt. His estate (or someone) is selling off all the neat stuff he saved from those gigs, including actual hand puppets and set pieces. Wonderful stuff.

In other news, you can also own the Emmy Award that Fred deCordova won for producing The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. You can also bid on many of the original stop-motion figures built for George Pal's Puppetoon series…

There are many priceless TV artifacts over there, especially to please a Star Trek fan. Thanks to Phil De Croocq for letting me know about some of this.

Here's one of the most useless lists you'll ever come across: A list of fifty great places to eat a specific food item. Like, it's real handy for me to know that if I ever decide I want to try suckling pig — and I've somehow made it to age 57 without having such an urge — the place to go for it is the Montimar in Estellencs, Mallorca. I'm sure whoever designated that as the best suckling pig in the world has tried suckling pig in every other eatery that serves it. (Note that they also seem to love the suckling pig at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Cebu, Philippines. The two restaurants cannot both have the best suckling pig in the world. I sense a duel-to-the-death looming…)

I've been to exactly one of the restaurants listed here — Katz's Deli in New York where, the list says, one can get the best pastrami sandwich in the world. And when I have been to Katz's, I've always had brisket or corned beef which, by the way, were terrific.

So it's a useless list but an entertaining one. You can even fantasize about the perfect meal: Oysters as an appetizer from Strangfor Lough in Northern Ireland…then a "surf 'n' turf" composed of the steak at El Carpicho in Jimenez de Jamuz, Spain plus prawns from Casa Bigote in nearby Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain. Add in the fried potatoes from the Bomba Bar Cova in Fumada, Barcelona and finish off your meal with chocolate cake from Pierre Hermé in Paris. Or if that's too much trouble, you can go grab an In-n-Out Burger, which is what I may do. Yum.

Just came across a photo I took at the same party where someone took that photo of me with Henry Gibson. Here are three men who played judges on Boston Legal — Henry, Shelley Berman and Chuck McCann. The gent at right is Richard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles. This was taken at Gladstone's in Malibu, a seafood restaurant that Mayor Riordan owns. Henry lived in Malibu and he told us he hadn't been well lately and wouldn't have come if the party hadn't been so close to his home. This was taken on June 9.