We are pleased to report that the dreaded Proposition 98 went down to defeat in yesterday's election here in California, and that 99 passed. The margin was 60%-40%. I'd be fascinated to know what percentage of those who voted for 98 understood that it pretty much did away with rent control, but I don't imagine anyone did that exit polling.

I have little to add to obits like this one for Paul Sills, who was kind of the Thomas Edison of comedy improv. He invented much of what is now taught — things that will forver be taught — to actors who work that side of the street…and what he didn't invent, his mother did. Among the practitioners of that art, his name was almost sacred…and probably for a very good reason.

1. Was Barack Obama's speech last evening really that good? Or did it just seem that way after the dreadful ones by John McCain and Hillary Clinton?

2. It was quite a night. I don't think Obama should get elected to anything because of his race…but isn't it nice that he's not being eliminated because of it?

3. Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe is starting to sound like Michael Palin in the Dead Parrot sketch. Hillary has not been eliminated. She's just pining for the fjords.

4. Going into this election, McCain has certain advantages and Obama has certain advantages. Obama's biggest one may be that there are no photos of him hugging George Bush.

The Comic-Con International in San Diego commences Thursday, July 24…but it actually starts for some of us with Preview Night, which is July 23. July 23 is fifty days from today.

Four-day memberships are sold out. One-day memberships are still available. They will almost certainly sell out before the convention. If you're thinking of going, it's time to make that happen. And you might want to take a look at an excellent con-going guide maintained by Tom Spurgeon and the less-impressive one put up by me.

I will, as usual, be hosting more than a dozen panels at the convention and there'll be a list of them up here in a few weeks. I will, however, tease one in particular.

Each year on Saturday afternoon, we do a thing called Quick Draw!, which is one of the most popular events of the con. It takes place in a very big room and very few (if any) seats are not filled. In Quick Draw!, three cartoonists compete to see who can do the fastest, funniest drawings based on challenges that I hurl at them with the help of the audience. It's quite the crowd-pleaser.

One of the cartoonists each year is Sergio Aragonés, who has been drawing for Mad since they were doing parodies of buggy whip merchants. Sergio is hailed by many as The World's Fastest Cartoonist. Another cartoonist is always Scott Shaw!, who is also brilliantly quick with pen and idea. The third slot rotates from year to year.

Several years ago, I asked Sergio if there was anyone we could ever get for that third seat who he thought could mop the floor with him and Scott. Sergio mentioned the name of one living cartoonist who he feared could do just that. And this year, that cartoonist will be in the third seat.

So I wake up this morning and some news sites are saying…

Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation's first female president.

And they tell about her laying off the staff as of June 15 and making other moves that concede it's over. But others are saying…

Senator Clinton will tonight acknowledge that Barack Obama has the necessary delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination but will not end her campaign. She will instead announce her intention to remain in the race in order to press Obama on certain key issues, including but not limited to health care.

And over at the CNN website, we have…

Hillary Clinton is "absolutely not" prepared to admit Barack Obama has beaten her in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, her campaign chairman told CNN today. Terry McAuliffe rejected as incorrect media reports that Clinton would concede Obama has the delegates to win.

One of the ways Hillary Clinton disappointed a lot of us has been through this "it's all about me" attitude. We can absolutely understand that she thinks she'd be the stronger candidate against John McCain and also a better president than Obama. Even if we don't agree, those are not irrational viewpoints, and the former is supported by some polling. Everyone who runs for high office and has even a teensy shot at winning (and even some who don't) thinks they can win and would do the best job.

I think she's doing her public image an awful lot of damage with this "I don't care if he does have enough delegates…I'm in it to win it" attitude. It's starting to remind me of Ross Perot, back when he wasn't close to winning one state in a single poll, including those conducted by his own campaign, telling Larry King he would get 100% of the electoral votes. The difference is that Perot seemed dismissive of any reality, whereas Clinton seems to have some scenario in mind where this will all work out well for her. I'm fascinated to know what it is.

Every Saturday this month, Turner Classic Movies is running a pair of the better Laurel and Hardy movies. These are not as available as they oughta be so you might want to set the ol' TiVo. This coming Saturday, it's Sons of the Desert, followed by Our Relations. The following week, it's Blockheads, then Swiss Miss. On the 21st, they're running Way Out West and A Chump at Oxford. And then on Saturday the 28th, we get The Flying Deuces and Saps at Sea. This coming Saturday's parlay is the best one but they're all worth watching.

Before I forget: Early the morning of June 11, TCM is running an awful film I've mentioned here before — Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title, starring Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie and Richard Deacon, and featuring a whole lot of celeb cameos. I wrote about it here and explained why it might be of interest even though it's a largely unwatchable movie.

And then immediately following that, also on June 11, they're running Billie, starring Patty Duke. We previewed that one here…another odd film that I'm not suggesting you actually watch. Unless of course, you have an insatiable desire to see where I went to high school.

Hey, want one more tribute to the late, great Will Elder? Filboid Studge has one of the best I've seen. Also, one of the best names…with special meaning to those familiar with the works of author H. H. Munro.

We have an election tomorrow in California and about the only things anyone cares about on the ballot are Propositions 98 and 99. In case you live in my state and in case you're confused, I'll make it real simple for you. We kinda/sorta need a law in this state that will restrict the government's power to seize your land under the auspices of "eminent domain" and give it to some private developer who wants to build a mall (or something else) in your area. This is necessary because of a 2005 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that made it easier for governments to do that. This was, by the way, a rare time I thought the Scalia side of the court — which opposed the expansion of Uncle Sam's powers to seize your property — was in the right.

If Proposition 98 was just about that, it would arguably be a good law. (The argument against it would be that it goes too far and would inhibit some justifiable uses of eminent domain) Alas, various landlords' associations saw an opportunity to piggyback some other items from their wishlist onto this just cause. They added a couple things but the biggie is that the law would strip local governments of their ability to enact and maintain rent controls. There's a case to be made against rent controls but they oughta be decided at the local levels and not abolished on a statewide basis.

Proposition 99 was written to trump 98. It's a better law to control eminent domain and it doesn't address the matter of rent control. It should pass. 98 should not.

All the pundits are suggesting that Hillary Clinton's quest for the nomination will probably end tomorrow or thereabouts. Given their track record on such predictions, I'm not assuming that's so. Some of these people could project that tomorrow will almost certainly be Tuesday and I'd think, "Well, maybe it will or maybe it won't."

It also strikes me that a lot of folks have trouble distinguishing between Senator Clinton's right to stay in the race and the advisability of her doing so…and within the category of "advisability," you also have it being the right thing for her and the right thing for the party. These are separate issues which may or may not overlap. Whether it's been right for her needs is hard for anyone to say because no one seems to know just where she thinks (or thought) she was headed with all this. The veep slot? Another role in an Obama administration? A positioning for some other job? Or maybe a route to the nomination that was not discernible to onlookers?

Beats the heck outta me. It's kind of a shame that the Hillary/Barack battle commanded so much attention the last few weeks because John McCain said some really odd, apparently inaccurate things about troop strength in Iraq and it didn't get much attention.

Anyway, the election barrels onward. McCain and Clinton (both Clintons) have disappointed me a lot in the last few weeks, lowering my previously-held opinions of them. Looks like it's going to be Obama's turn next…

Here's a new link to video footage (not live) of the fire at Universal Studios.

Someone was just on the radio saying — I'm not sure who it was or how sure they are — that nothing irreplaceable is being lost in the film or video vaults. That's probably true but there was a time when it might not have been. In the age of digital transfers and home video, it's a lot harder to lose the only copy or copies of an old movie or TV show.

In the meantime, the KNBC TV "live feed" channel in Los Angeles has stopped running old DIC cartoons and is now running an infomercial with Jane Seymour selling skin cream. It's been pointed out to me that there's a good reason why they're airing Archie's Weird Mysteries and shows like that. The F.C.C. still has that requirement that stations must broadcast X hours per week of shows for children. It doesn't matter if they air them on a sub-channel nobody watches but putting those cartoons on fulfills the rule.

So that's why they're on. Still, I think that if you have a channel that's there to present raw news footage of local interest and you have raw news footage of something like this, you might decide the cartoons can run later. Or maybe even bump the Jane Seymour infomercial.