Michael Kinsley writes about Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Todd Akin, and their attempts to distance themselves from each other and even from themselves.

A fellow named Jeff Altman — no relation to the fine comedian of the same name — has been transferring his grandfather's old 16mm Kodachrome home movies to Internet videos. They're quite wonderful…like this 1962 trip to Las Vegas.

I love the marquees that show who's playing there. You'll see one that billboards a comedian named Hank Henry. He was an old burlesque comic who spent the last decade or two of his life in Vegas playing in burlesque-type revues and he was a big fave of Mr. Francis Albert Sinatra, who stuck him in most of his movies. Back when Johnny Carson played Vegas, he was known to run from his own show to go see Hank Henry or another burley-Q veteran, Tommy Moe Raft. Those guys are all gone and so are most of the hotels they played.

You'll also see that Judy Garland and Ray Bolger were both playing the Sahara but not in the same shows. See what else you can spot in there…

For some reason, I seem to be on a list that contractors (painters, builders, etc.) purchase of "leads" — folks who might be needing home repairs or remodeling. I don't and if I did, I have such people I've used before and would use again.

I guess it's a sign of the economy being what it is that about once a day, I get a call that goes pretty much like this except for the caller's name, the name of his or her company and the way they pronounce "Evanier"…

THEM: Good afternoon, Mr. Evainieer, I'm Chuck Chuckworthy of Flotsam Construction. We're working in your area and we heard you might be in need of a good contractor.

ME: Sorry. Yours is about the fortieth one of these calls I've had this month. I don't need any work done and if I did, I would have picked one of the folks who got to me before you did.

THEM: Okay, sorry to have wasted your time. Bye. Click.

There are variations but that's pretty much how they go. Today, I got one that went just like that around 10:15 AM. Two minutes later, I got one that went like this…

THEM: Good afternoon, Mr. Evinaar, I'm Bob Bobworthy of Jetsam Construction. We're working in your area and we heard you might be in need of a good contractor.

ME: Sorry. Yours is about the fortieth one of these calls I've had this month. I don't need any work done and if I did, I would have picked one of the folks who got to me before you did.

THEM: Hey, I don't need any of this negativity bullshit. I'm just trying to make money. Click.

Makes you almost want to call the man back and hire him, doesn't it?

There's a photo of Jack Kirby in his natural state of Creating Something. Jack would have been 95 years old today…and if you "live" only by being mentioned, he'll be around as long as many of the characters he launched. I still find myself thinking about him, quoting him, being asked about him and starting sentences with "Y'know, Kirby once said…" on a daily basis.

Y'know, Kirby once said that you always have to look at the Big Picture. He was a Big Picture kind of guy. As is obvious to all who know his work, he drew in Big Pictures, no matter their actual dimensions on a page. He thought in Big Pictures, too. With Jack, it was all about where we were, how we got here and — most important — where we were going. His mind wandered too much for him to be able to drive a car but he often seemed to be driving us anyway…all around the neighborhood and into the future.

I have written extensively — some say too much, though others say not enough — about his creative brilliance and also about what a decent, wonderful human being he was. As is not unusual with those who are praised so, a certain backlash is inevitable. I occasionally spot it on Internet message boards where people without real names argue that he wasn't that clever and/or that nice; that he couldn't have been.

Not long ago, I was slammed on one for advancing these myths. The contrarian did not seem to get that the view of Kirby I give is not just mine. It's darn near unanimous among those who knew him and those who worked with him. Take me out of the pool and everyone whose opinions could matter still thinks he was a lot more than just a guy who moved the pencil on some memorable and successful comic books. He was still Jack Kirby.

And as A. Whitney Brown used to say on Saturday Night Live: That, my friends, is the Big Picture.

Just watch this. It's self-explanatory and fascinating…

A bunch of grandmothers sing about women's bodies — a subject that they obviously don't know anything about. (Thanks to Shelly Goldstein for telling me about this video. Shelly has a woman's body so she too needs a politician to tell her how they work.)

Still under the deadline gun…not that I'm complaining. Matter of fact, I'm learning that it helps me not to complain.

You'd think at age 60, I'd have figured that out by now but hey, sometimes these things take a while to sink in. Increasingly, I find myself using a simple analogy. Friends bitch 'n' moan about problems to me and sometimes, something constructive comes out of the complaining…but not often. Sometimes, it's just "Hey, you think you have it bad, let me top you." And sometimes, it's just plain a waste of time and energy. I have one friend who could probably solve every work-related problem he whines about if he took the time he spends whining and spent it doing the work instead.

Too often, the negatives they itemize are negatives that come with the job. I once knew a Playboy Playmate who'd spend half the day at the gym and the other half doing her hair and makeup…then expect sympathy because, as she put it, "Men keep staring at me." We all felt really sorry for her. I have writer friends complaining about not having paying work — a legit reason for some despair — but I also know writers who want a little pity because they have to spend so much time at the keyboard.

So the analogy I find myself using a lot is: "That's like a prizefighter complaining, 'The other guy keeps hitting me!'"

One of the things some new writers don't seem to get is that it's work. And if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to doing some of it…

And I'm back for…well, not so much an obit as a recognition. Jerry Nelson was one of the first-string, Henson-selected Muppet performers. He was a major player on Sesame Street performing Count Von Count, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Herbert Birdsfoot, Sherlock Hemlock, Herry Monster, the Amazing Mumford, Little Jerry, Simon Soundman, Farley and a wide array of supporting one-shot characters. When the Muppets were on Saturday Night Live the first season, he was the lead character, Scred. And then on mainstream Muppet projects, his roles included Robin, Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand (the guy with the boomerang fish) and sometimes Statler of Statler and Waldorf. He was also one of the lead performers on Fraggle Rock. He was often used in roles that played up his fine singing voice(s).

I never met Jerry Nelson but I quite admired his work. And as a devout fan of the first generation of Muppeting, I'm always sad when another one of those guys goes away.

And I had to come back for this: MAD magazine mainstay Dick DeBartolo and his companion of 32 years, Dennis Wunderlin, finally decided to tie the knot and get married. Congrats, guys. I hope at least one of you is gay.

Okay, I took a break to post this. Last Friday night, I participated in a live event at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club up in Universal City. Voice Wizard Rob Paulsen hosted an episode of his podcast, Talking Toons, with special guest June Foray. It's Rob and me talking to the First Lady of Voice Acting for a little over an hour before an enthusiastic audience including a number of talented voiceover actors. You can listen in at this site or if I've configured things correctly by clicking on the player below…