Over at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, they have this revival of South Pacific that's been playing to sell-out crowds since it opened. There's a reason. It's really a stunning, emotional and memorable production. The thing runs a good three hours and all three hours are good.

South Pacific debuted on Broadway in 1949. Josh Logan directed, Oscar Hammerstein wrote the lyrics, Richard Rodgers wrote the music and Logan and Hammerstein collaborated on the book. It was an enormous hit…one that changed the American musical theater, some said, with the way it crossed over from musical comedy to, at times, musical drama. Logan directed the movie version with the odd color scheme…and I must admit it had never meant much to me. I may need to see it again now.

The Lincoln Center version restores (they say) every word and note of what originally appeared on Broadway, including the orchestrations. Throughout the show's long life in regional and community theater, that has rarely been done and many companies temper the portions of the book that have to do with the mixing of races. In New York in '49, it must have been a pretty powerful condemnation of bigotry…and I'm even guessing it caught some theatergoers by surprise. A show called South Pacific somehow sounds a bit frothier than what you get. I say that because from some of the energy I felt in the theater at Lincoln Center, I gather a lot of attendees either didn't know it was coming or had forgotten. Many also seemed unprepared for some of the more wrenching emotional moments of the two love stories in the narrative.

Still, everyone loved it. Everyone. I may never go see this show again because I doubt I'm ever going to see it done this well.

Yeah, that's where I am. American Airlines now charges $15 for your first checked suitcase and $25 for your second. I had but one…and for some reason, I'd almost rather pay more for my ticket and not go through that at the airport. It feels like, "Okay, now that you've purchased your new car, would you like to buy a steering wheel to go in it?"

One problem with this new fee is that people now have a new incentive to go carry-on…and American hasn't increased the number of overhead bins on their planes. Ergo, you have a fine mess of folks fighting for space and quite a few wound up having to check their carry-ons on the plane. Seems to me the whole thing just delays the boarding process. And then our plane sat on the runway for 45 minutes, which is always fun.

Then, as we were landing, a flight attendant announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, as you know we're getting in late. We have thirty people aboard, all seated towards the rear of the plane, who need to make a connecting flight on Iberian Airlines to Spain. They may just barely be able to make it so we'd appreciate it if when the plane reaches the gate, the rest of you would remain seated and allow our friends who need to make their connecting flight to get off first."

Everyone more or less nodded that, yes, they'd remain seated while the thirty people deplaned. And then, as soon as the Captain turned off the seat belt signs, the folks on their way to Barcelona were forgotten and everyone filled the aisles and started hauling down their carry-ons. I suspect some travellers missed their connections.

Still, all in all, not a bad flight. The inflight TV got stuck or something and ended up showing the same commercial over and over — that American Express one with Tina Fey and Martin Scorcese in the Admiral's Club. And then in the airport after landing, I nearly crashed into Arianna Huffington. But you expect that.

You don't need (or care) to hear what I did yesterday except that last night, Carolyn and I went to the new, acclaimed revival of South Pacific. Boy, what a great and thrilling production. I'll post a full report in the next day or three. And now, it's off to the con…

The FBI is investigating numerous reports of men claiming to be war heroes who aren't. One of them, a North Carolina man named Randall Moneymaker, allegedly fibbed to collect more than $18,000 in disability payments. I don't know if he did or he didn't but I think it's a good idea not to try and con people out of cash when your name is Randy Moneymaker.

On a related note: Lately, every homeless male I see with a cardboard sign asking for money is claiming on it to be a veteran…some of Vietnam, some of Iraq. I rarely give those folks anything, preferring to direct my charity to an agency that I know will put it to the best possible use. But I'm wondering if anyone has ever done a survey to determine what percentage of them actually are what the signs say they are.

I know this is not high on too many priority lists these days, but I wish we could do more to get these folks into some kind of shelter or assistance program. It's not even a matter of simple human compassion…although that is certainly reason enough. But it would also be good for everyone because it's a health and crime hazard, and the way the economy's going, some of us may be joining them on those street corners soon. I'm thinking of having my sign say "Will blog for food."

Early this morn, I embedded a video of my favorite episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show. What I didn't know is that hulu, the company that hosts these videos, is not accessible outside the U.S. About a dozen folks from other lands wrote to ask which episode I'd embedded. Answer: "It May Look Like a Walnut."

In truth, there are at least a dozen episodes of that series I could have identified as my favorite and not have been fibbing by too much: The one where Laura went on the game show and told the world that Alan Brady was bald…the one where Mel Cooley was fired…the one about Buddy's practical joking…the one where the writers almost went to work for a snail…and others I could mention. But this week, the one about the walnuts is my favorite.

This weekend, I'll be in New York, New York appearing at The National, a fine comic convention at the Hotel Pennsylvania. I'll be hosting panels on Saturday. I'll be hanging around on Sunday and maybe part of Friday. Before I return to L.A., I'll also visit publishers, go to Broadway shows, see friends…and I think I'm even going to have lunch or beverages with Fred Kaplan, whose Slate articles I'm always recommending to you. Expect intermittent reports (the hotel has lousy Internet connectivity) which should include reviews of South Pacific and Gypsy.

Then, no conventions 'til February. I'll be at the Wondercon in San Francisco from 2/27 through March first, then the next one I've said I'll attend is the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, which is April 25-26. There may be one other in there but I think I'm getting conventioned-out, and all my good shirts are too full of holes from name badges.

Over at fivethirtyeight.com, demon number cruncher Nate Silver concludes that the success of Proposition 8 in California — the one that banned same-sex wedlock — was not, as some have concluded, due to a higher-than-usual black vote. Silver thinks it's generational. Older voters went for Proposition 8, younger ones didn't.

That makes sense and it's also encouraging. The last time Gay Marriage lost a statewide vote in California, it lost by 22 points. This time, it was a little less than 5 points. It's disappointing that it lost at all but at least things are moving in the right direction.

I have no idea how likely the various court challenges are to overturn Prop H8, as people are now calling it. (It took me a minute to figure that one out, too.) But there is something unseemly, or perhaps self-defeating, in trying to invert something that was an expression of, after all, The Will of the People. Seems to me Gay Marriage will never be a settled matter in this state until it becomes The Will of the People via a clear, inarguable victory at the polls. Maybe all the energy that's now going into blocking traffic and siccing lawyers on the matter would be better put into amassing bucks to back a proposition on the next ballot.

I don't know when that next ballot could be…but by then, a few more of the older voters will have died out. And just in case there is some merit to the theory that black turnout for Obama helped Proposition 8…well, that shouldn't be a factor next time, either. Court challenges might take just as long — and even if successful, reinstating same-sex weddings that way is merely going to muddy the issue. I'm sure there are some people out there who bought the following argument: Never mind gays getting married…the reason to vote for 8 is that we want to show those damned courts that they can't overturn our vote.

Even if only 2% of those who voted for 8 had that in mind, that's almost half the winning margin. Take that concern off the table and figure that by the next election, more older voters will be out of the mix…and it seems to me Gay Marriage could win with the electorate, no matter how much money the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints threw at it. Wouldn't that be better? The trouble with winning via legal challenges is that it becomes a victory based on technicalities, not on human enlightenment. This one deserves to win because enough people in California come to their senses, not because an attorney finds a loophole.

So it's a week after the election and we still don't know for sure where Missouri's electoral votes are going to land. A few news sites have awarded them to John McCain but most haven't…and I wonder if the ones that have would have called that state if it did matter.

It's interesting to imagine a scenario where they did. Let's say Obama won all the states Kerry won plus Iowa and Nevada, McCain took everything else except Missouri…and Missouri was still in the balance. That would put Obama at 264, McCain at 263 and the entire nation on pins and needles, waiting for Missouri to come in and declare our next President. I assume somehow they'd have sped up the counting process there and we'd have a winner by now…but maybe not.

I don't have a punch line for this or even a semi-interesting observation. I just think it's fascinating to note that this could have happened.

Anyone here see John McCain on with Jay Leno last night? I have mixed feelings about that. It's nice to see the "old" John McCain, I guess, but you'd like someone to ask him if he was really proud of the campaign he wound up running. Does he still think Obama is a socialist? Or that Obama voted to cut off funding for our troops? Is he worried about having someone who "pals around with terrorists" in the White House? Leno, of course, is not the guy to ask such questions but I hope someone will. Jay did ask if he regretted the choice of Sarah Palin and of course, McCain said no. He's proud of her and expects her to have a career on the national scene in some way. Somehow, I don't believe either part of that.

Okay, listen up. For a couple years here, I've been hectoring you to tune in Stu's Show, a weekly two-hour chat about classic television, hosted by my buddy Stu Shostak. Many of you have written to thank me for the tip since Stu puts on a great show. He's usually able to get great guests and when he can't, he has me on. So either way, I'd like you to listen…which you can do on your computer, assuming it's hooked up to the Internet, which it must be or you wouldn't be reading this.

Well, tomorrow is Stu's one hundredth show. That's a big deal all by itself but he's celebrating with a great guest…everyone's favorite actress, the legendary June Foray! That's right. The voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Granny (Tweety's owner), Jokey Smurf, Witch Hazel and so many others will be in Stu's studio to be interviewed and take questions from those of you who call in. It doesn't get any better than that. Animation expert Earl Kress will be co-hosting and I'll participate via phone.

It happens tomorrow (Wednesday) live on Shokus Internet Radio. To listen, go to their website at the correct hour and do what it says to do. The correct hour will depend on where you live but on the West Coast, it's from 4 PM 'til 6 PM, which works out to 7 PM 'til 9 PM on the East Coast…and you can figure out other places from that. The show will rerun all week but it's better to hear it as it happens — and of course, you can call in when it's live.

This is a rare opportunity to hear and maybe even chat with one of the animation field's true living legends. And if you've never experienced the fun of Stu's Show, it's a good time to start.