This is a 1984 profile of Mel Brooks done by Hugh Downs on the ABC program, 20/20. It's in two parts which should play one after the other in the player I've embedded below. And that's about all you need to know about it…
Recommended Reading
Matt Taibbi thinks this is a boring presidential election, that Obama will win handily, that there isn't that much difference between Obama and Romney, and that much of the suspense is being hyped up by a media that needs to make it sound like a horse race so they'll have something to cover.
Hmm. I think Obama will win but I'm not as sure of that as Taibbi is. I grudgingly admit there's not as much difference between the two candidates as I'd like, though I still think a President Romney would do a lot of things Obama wouldn't do to the detriment of the poor and weak in this country. I do think there's a lot of unnecessary hype out there. And if it's boring now, it won't be by October.
Where I Won't Be
I said back in this post that Sergio Aragonés and I would both be at the Big Wow! ComicFest in San Jose, CA on May 19 and 20. Well, we won't be. He's recovered pretty much from his back problems but he's way behind. I haven't recovered from anything but I'm also way behind, plus I have a personal, wouldn't-interest-you matter to take care of that weekend. So I've regretfully had to withdraw, as well.
But don't let us not being there stop you. It's a great convention and you'll have as good a time, if not a better one, if you attend. Details are right here…and my apologies to Steve Wyatt and the fine folks who throw that great con. I'll be there next year if they'll have me.
Johnny
Bill Maher wrote a dead-on-target piece about Johnny Carson noting — and it's hard to believe it's been this long — the 20th anniversary of Johnny's retirement.
He is quite right about Carson being ruthless; about how Johnny wouldn't hesitate to cut off a guest he thought had worn out his or her worth to the show. I've made that point here before. Over at the official Carson website, they used to have an online database of guests who'd been on the show and the dates. You could look up any of a long list of guests Johnny once had on often — Tony Randall, Charles Nelson Reilly, Jaye P. Morgan, Charles Grodin, Robert Blake, Orson Bean and many others — and you'd see the person appear every three or four weeks for months and months —
— and then suddenly, nothing. Johnny would just decide the guest was out of funny stories or the guest had gotten too familiar or something…and they'd be gone. No sentiment.
I also agree with Maher that Johnny wouldn't fare so well in today's competitive marketplace. I love Carson and think there'll never be anyone like him. But I still think he left when he did because he knew that his act was running out of steam and that if he didn't go out soon, he wouldn't go out on top.
Shirt Tales
I keep seeing people wearing this shirt. It's a plain black t-shirt but they've printed a little fake name badge on the pocket area. And on the name badge, it says: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Every time I see one, I laugh. But I also have three thoughts…
- That, of course, is a famous line from the book and movie, The Princess Bride, both written by William Goldman. Do we think the company putting these out made any sort of deal to compensate Mr. Goldman for the use of his words?
- What the hell do people think who see this shirt but aren't familiar with The Princess Bride? And finally…
- Wouldn't it be cheaper and funnier just to make your own version of this shirt? You probably have a black Sharpie around. You can buy a package of those labels for two bucks in the CVS Pharmacy near me and, I would imagine, other places. Then you can stick the label on whatever you want to wear. It would be a lot funnier on the kind of clothing you'd likely wear to the kind of event where people walk around with name badges. That usually doesn't mean a black t-shirt.
That's all I'm thinking…and note that I'm concerned that Mr. Goldman is not being paid but at the same time, I'm suggesting a way to further exploit him without paying him. So maybe if you do walk around with one of those stickers on, you could buy one or two of his books to put some coins in his pocket. You'd probably enjoy them as most of them are very good.
Facts Matter Not
George W. Bush grew the size of government and Barack Obama is shrinking it. But the people who want to see government shrink are all going to vote against Obama because, you know, he's a Democrat and they just know Democrats love bigger government.
Great Photos of Stan Laurel and/or Oliver Hardy
Number two hundred and twenty-seven in a series…
My Trip, Part 2
This posting is more or less continued from this one.
The other thing I was oddly aware of on this trip was how much of it was made possible by technology that didn't exist a decade or two ago. This is leaving aside all the improved hardware and software components which the airport, airline, rental car company, etc. employ to do what they do. I'm just talking about things I was able to do for me because of the Internet, my laptop computer, my iPad, my iPhone and a few other little inventions that handle data. Not all that long ago, I would have booked this trip by calling a travel agent I had named Brenda…or at least, I would have phoned a couple of airlines and asked them when their flights were and then I would have had to find a hotel…
Here's a probably-not-complete list of technology-type things I did that made this trip a breeze. These are not necessarily in any order…
- Via home computer, researched flights and prices online.
- Via home computer, booked trip online.
- Via home computer, researched hotels online.
- Via home computer, booked two of my three one-night hotel reservations.
- Via iPhone, booked the other one three hours before check-in.
- Via home computer, researched car rental rates online.
- Via home computer, booked car rental with Hertz.
- Via iPhone at appropriate times, confirmed all of the above.
- Via home computer, wrote and printed out copies of my itinerary.
- Via home computer, researched driving directions online.
- Via home computer, uploaded addresses to Hertz NeverLost website so they would be transferred to the GPS in my rental car.
- Via home computer, printed out driving direction maps to have along in case GPS failed or was unavailable.
- Via home computer, researched needed addresses (restaurants, supermarkets) near hotels.
- Via home computer, researched airports to see how to get around and where to eat during layover.
- Via home computer, booked space at parking lot near LAX for my car while away.
- Via home computer, transmitted various details of trip via e-mail to folks I'd be seeing on the trip.
- Via iPhone, checked in for flights and verified departure times.
- Via iPad during flight, used Delta app to track progress of flight (I told one flight attendant what time we'd be getting in and at what gate).
- Via iPad during flight, used Delta iPad app to verify that my luggage had been transferred from first plane to second.
- Via iPad during flight, used wi-fi to answer e-mail, Tweet, post on blog, play Sudoku and, using Kindle app, read books.
- Via iPad at airports, did some of that while waiting for flights.
- Via laptop at Indianapolis Airport, wrote much of a Garfield script, Tweeted and caught up on e-mail while waiting for flight.
- Via laptop in hotel rooms, did some writing, e-mail, blog posting and Tweeting.
- Via Hertz NeverLost GPS, found my way around Indiana.
- Via iPad during business meetings, took notes and synched them with iPhone and laptop.
- Via iPhone, located RadioShack to purchase a needed computer part.
- Via iPhone throughout trip, kept in touch with people (calls to my home number were forwarded to it).
- Via Bluetooth Headset, used iPhone while driving.
…and I'm sure there are others. The biggie may be that next-to-the-last one because it's like being able to carry your home phone around with you wherever you go. Remember when we had to find pay phones every hour or three and use little beepers to call in and see if we had any messages? I was actually able to handle some important matters while driving the freeway thanks to the last two. And throughout the trip, I always knew where I was, where I was going, how to get there, what to expect when I got there and so forth.
Years ago, I was the first person I knew to get a TiVo. In fact, for the first few months I had one, I had to demonstrate it to practically everyone who came over. When some asked me what good it was, I had a very simple explanation: From now on, I am in control of my TV watching. I watch what I want when I want. I do not have to rearrange my life to be home to watch a certain show or even to program its recording. The shows I want to watch are on when I want to watch them and I can pause them in the middle, go do something else, come back to them, replay something I want to see again, etc. I own my TV instead of the other way around.
In a similar way because of technology, I no longer feel as "owned" by the problems of travel. I no longer feel as disconnected from the life I've configured for myself here. I take my phone with me. I take my work with me. I know where I'm going and how to get there and a lot more about what's going to happen when I'm there. There are variables and alien experiences, true…but they now feel like the exception when I travel instead of the norm.
Just before I left L.A., I delivered a foreword I wrote for a forthcoming book. Not all that long ago, to deliver my writing would have meant printing it out on paper, stuffing it in an envelope, addressing the envelope, calculating and affixing postage and dropping it off at the post office or Fedex, and it would arrive in a day or three. Now, it means addressing an e-mail (two seconds), attaching the file and hitting "send" and the recipient, if he's checking his e-mail, will have it in well under a minute.
I did it the modern way from my home computer just before I left Los Angeles. While in Muncie, I was in a meeting with Jim Davis and other folks involved with The Garfield Show when I received an e-mail from the editor for whom I'd done the foreword. The file was somehow corrupted.
Something like that happened to me on a trip to New York about twenty years ago. I was up at the DC offices and I called home to see if I had any messages. There was one sent several hours earlier from an editor (not with DC) saying that a script I'd sent before leaving had not arrived and FedEx had no idea where it was. Could I send it again?
What I had to do back then was…
- Call my assistant and tell her to rush over to my house.
- Call her later when she was there and talk her through turning on my computer, navigating to the proper file and printing out a new copy.
- Tell her where to find the publisher's FedEx number and address so she could prepare a new mailing.
- Have her go to the FedEx office and send off a new copy.
From the time the editor left his message telling me of the need to the time the new copy was printed out and sent was about four hours and then it took 18 more for it to get to him. Plus, there was all that hassle for my assistant having to drop everything and rush to my house.
Last Thursday, I got his message instantly, hit a few commands on my iPad and he had a new copy of the manuscript three moments later. It was on my iPad, by the way, courtesy of Dropbox.
I love technological advances. I can't wait to see what we'll have twenty years from now that will make those three moments seem like an eternity of wasted time and effort.
Today's Video Link
Marc Tyler Nobleman has a new book coming out…one that may help folks to understand why every year at the Comic-Con in San Diego, we give out The Bill Finger Award to two writers who've contributed much to comics but without receiving sufficient recognition and/or reward. Here's a little video trailer for it…
My Tweets from Yesterday
Go See It!
Anonymous comic blogger "Robby Reed" puts together elaborate histories on his fine site, Dial "B" for Blog. He occasionally closes down shop and each time, we never know if he'll be back or not. He's closing down again with installment #600 — perhaps for a while, perhaps forever — but he's going out with a great overview of the career and impact of Jack Kirby. Go there when you have a little time because it's not a quick read…and make sure your computer speakers are on so you can hear the soundtrack.
Great Photos of Stan Laurel and/or Oliver Hardy
Number two hundred and twenty-six in a series…
From the E-Mailbag…
This comes from a person who'd prefer to remain nameless. And if I thought like this, I'd prefer to remain nameless, too…
I read your friend's article about the gay teacher and that's very nice. I have no problem with gays as teachers as long as they don't try to indoctrinate but I do have a problem with the whole gay rights thing. Maybe it's different where you are working in show business but I have always had a problem approving of the idea of two men or two women as a couple. I hope you don't think I'm a bad person for this but I respect your writing and your blog even when I disagree with your politics and wonder if you could expand a little on what you wrote.
No, I don't think you're a bad person because of your viewpoint. You might be for other reasons. And when you write "I have a problem" or "I have no problem," you're off to a good start because you're realizing, perhaps subconsciously, that it is all a matter of your problems. Those of us who have no problem with Gay Rights have no problems at all in this area…except maybe with those who have their own problems about it.
The thing is: No one is really asking you to approve or disapprove of homosexuality. I mean, you can if you want just as I can believe that certain of my friends are in unhealthy (for them) relationships regardless of whether there's one of each gender in the couple. But I don't have a right to stop them from being together or want my government to discourage or condemn their union.
I know plenty of gay people. I can't give you a number because I know lots of people who might be gay but I don't know whether they are or they aren't, nor do I think much about it. And it works fine for me to file it in the "none of my business" folder and just ignore it unless they bring it up for some reason. I suspect a lot of folks who oppose Gay Marriage simply don't encounter many gay people or don't recognize it in the ones around them.
Some of the more vocal opponents certainly have some bizarre ideas about homosexuality; that it's a "choice," that it can be prayed-away, etc. The oddest are those who bring procreation into the matter…you know, like we have to stop Gay Marriage because the world will run out of people if everyone isn't out there reproducing. What they don't get is that even if there were a crisis of Not Enough Babies, no legislation is going to cause Adam and Steve to give birth. It's kind of off the menu with those boys.
As the saying goes, they're here, they're queer, get used to it. I long ago got used to the idea that some people like to sleep with folks who have the same physical equipment. It doesn't bother me one bit and despite some hysterical, illogical screeds about it "destroying traditional marriage," I don't see that allowing it harms anything. On the other hand, blocking it establishes all sorts of ugly precedents about government control of the sex lives of consenting adults. That's where the danger is in all this; that, plus the fact that some pretty sleazy politicians have been able to demagogue this issue and use it for donations and votes.
I was pleased today to see Vice-President Biden come out for Gay Marriage and to suggest it's now the stance of the Administration. They should have done this years ago and I'm hoping that the Obama crew has made a wise calculation, as they often do on this kind of issue, that it's no longer Bad Politics for Democrats.
Cat Chat
Jim Davis, with whom I dined not 72 hours ago in Muncie, talks about the new Garfield comic book which is written by me and drawn by Gary Barker. I'm a little confused as to whether the first issue is out yet but if it isn't, it will be soon. I have printed copies here of all three variant editions. (Insides are the same in all…only the cover differs.)
Today's Video Link
The last few days, I've been posting videos featuring Big Daddy, the group I liked that took contemporary songs and rearranged them so they sounded like they were recorded in the fifties. Big Daddy more or less disbanded a few years ago to the disappointment of a lot of fans. But I'm delighted to report that some configuration of the band has resurfaced with their version of the love theme from the movie, Titanic. Here they are, back from the dead for the second time. At least…
