I kinda feel guilty covering this. Earlier this year, my friends Paul Dini, Misty Lee and I attended a live production of A Christmas Carol at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. For those who enjoy theatrical disasters — and I don't — it was the Super Bowl times ten. Advertised stars did not appear and the ones who did didn't know their lines. The stage crew didn't know which order to bring the sets in. There was much laughter where there should not have been laughter. We ended up cheering the performers at the end of it for just getting to the end of it. Later, there were reports that the endeavor had lost tons of money and that folks who worked on it had yet to receive pay.

The same producer-director is now attempting to mount a new tour of the Dickens classic with a different set of stars, some of whom have already disappeared from the advertising. The show was to have opened in Philadelphia, then moved to Boston, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Chicago but it's being reported that no theater has yet been booked for the first two cities…and Minneapolis has now been cancelled. These are not good signs.

And another not-good sign: Reporters around the country are writing about the problems and digging up ominous things about the producer's past…including the fact that he apparently wrote the script for this version while serving time in prison. Here's a report in the Chicago Reader that even quotes this blog. Like I said, I feel a bit guilty to be following this. It's like watching a train wreck from afar…painful to experience but difficult to ignore.

A new CNN poll says that seven in 10 Americans believe Sarah Palin is not qualified to be President. I'm not entirely sure what that means. I think Dick Cheney is probably "qualified" to be President but I'd never vote for the guy. I can also imagine a scenario where I vote for someone I think isn't "qualified" to be President just because the alternative seems more dangerous. 47% of Republicans in this poll say she's not qualified but I'll bet some of them would vote for her. In the last election, an awful lot of this country went for the guy with less experience.

Or did most of the respondents in this poll just answer the question as if it was, "Might you vote for her?" That would be my guess. I'd also guess that in hindsight, a pretty high percentage of Americans would say that George W. Bush wasn't qualified to be President…even in his second term.

No matter which interpretation you buy, it reinforces my belief that Ms. Palin will never get much closer to the presidency than I will. What's more, I think she knows it. But I also think she knows that at least for the next few years, she has a small, loyal band of rabid followers who empower her. They'll donate money to an alleged presidential campaign. They'll pay to buy her books or hear her speak. They'll demand for her to receive a certain amount of respect and attention from the media and especially from the Republican Party. Unless she lands a lucrative alternate gig — like, say, a three-year contract from Fox News — she's not going to say "I won't be a candidate" because she won't want to diminish that group's loyalty, hopes, etc. So she ain't going away but she also ain't gonna be the Republican nominee.

Just finished a script that would have been done two hours ago if we hadn't had winds in Los Angeles knocking out the electricity today. Sweet dreams, Internet. See you in the morning.

In my line o' work, I get to hang around (and pretend to direct) some of the most talented people in Hollywood. Two such folks are the men in the pic above…two gents whose voices you've heard constantly in cartoons and commercials.

The one at left is Gregg Berger, who's been barking for Odie for years in the Garfield cartoons. He's also been heard on G.I. Joe, The Transformers, Duckman, Men in Black and dozens of others. The one at right is Michael Bell, who's been heard on G.I. Joe, The Transformers, Rugrats, Plastic Man, Speed Buggy and dozens of others. Both gents also have impressive credits in front of the camera but it's (mainly) their V.O. work which Stu Shokus will be spotlighting later today (Wednesday) on his glorious radio program, Stu's Show. If you're interested in how cartoons are voiced, you couldn't do better than to tune in and listen to these fellows. You'll also be stunned by how often you've heard them in commercials. (Bell was the guy who used to say "butter" in the Parkay Margarine commercials.)

The show airs at 4 PM West Coast Time, which is 7 PM East Coast Time. It'll be a fast two hours as Stu asks these gents about their careers and how they do what they do. Tune in at the appointed hour at Shokus Internet Radio and click where they tell you to click. I may be even be calling in to get in on the fun.

You hear that newspapers are plunging in circulation. To better illustrate this plunge, here's a chart of several leading papers and what's happened with their numbers the last two decades.

Harrah's Entertainment reported yesterday that it lost more than $1 billion in the third quarter. Companywide revenues were down 13.7% compared to the same period last year.

This is an amazing drop. And imagine what it would be like if I hadn't given up buffets.

Joe Brancatelli, who knows more about the travel biz than anyone else I know, tells us the best way to get low rates at hotels. And I was also interested in this old article by Joe that says hotels are moving away from those clumsy tub-shower combos which I've never liked and are moving to just having stall showers. Good.