Yesterday, I took a baby step — well, maybe half a baby step — towards getting out of the house more. I got my car working again. It's been in the garage with a dead battery for about two and a half weeks and I decided it was time to rectify that. I called Triple-A and I guess their drivers aren't busy these days because a fellow was here in under eight minutes.

He checked the battery and said all it needed was a jump to get it started and then I needed to drive it around for about 45 minutes. So I drove it around for 45 minutes, unable to think of anyplace in all of Los Angeles, California that I wanted to go. The last time this happened to me — must have been twenty years ago — I drove to a store I'd been wanting to visit that was about a 45 minute drive away. This time, no such destination came to mind so I drove west for about 22.5 minutes and then turned around and came back.

Most interesting thing I saw: At the legendary corner of Pico and Sepulveda Boulevards — made famous on Dr. Demento's radio show and nowhere else — there's usually a guy on the southeast corner selling flowers. He was there but, so help me, he was selling masks.

There wasn't much traffic. Almost everyone I saw was wearing a mask. One lady who was walking her dog had a kerchief on and so did the dog.

I paused for a red light near a little park-like area. There, I saw three young folks lounging on a blanket enjoying a picnic lunch. They were all wearing masks and carefully tucking bites of food behind their masks for consumption.

And I saw an awful lot of restaurants that I would have thought would be open for take-out and delivery but were instead shut tight. I hope they all reopen after this is over but I bet some of them won't.

When I got home, I put the car in the garage and made sure that no door was open and no interior light was on. One of those, I suspect, caused my battery to drain when I went two weeks without driving the car.

I wonder why someone can't invent a component that stops all drawing off the battery when it reaches the minimum level necessary to get the engine started. Maybe someone has and the Lexus folks don't make it standard because they want to drum up business for the American Automobile Association. A car that costs that much shouldn't be rendered useless because you forgot to turn off your friggin' dome light.

Here's me at a party some time ago with three men of music. Going right to left, we have Stan Freberg, then me, then Richard Sherman, then Ian Whitcomb at far left. Ian died last Sunday at the age of 78, not from the coronavirus but from, apparently, whatever had been keeping him ill for some time. He was a delightful gent, a delightful performer and a great scholar of popular music, especially old popular music, especially funny old popular music in the U.K. and U.S.

Once upon a time, he was one of those British rock stars of the sixties. He had a Top Ten hit in 1965 with "You Turn Me On" but to see him perform in the last few decades was to enjoy a delightful evening of obscure funny tunes. He loved performing and I enjoyed hearing him and also talking with him about…well, about the songs but really about anything. He was witty and friendly and I think you can tell that from the musical selection I've made below.

This could easily have been a video of him performing "You Turn Me On" but the Ian I knew was more likely to burst into this kind of song. This is from a Tonight Show from the seventies. He was one of the good guys…

Christopher Orr discusses the enduring (amazing, actually) popularity of Scooby Doo. As he notes, "Scooby-Doo, believe it or not, has over the years been the subject of at least 19 TV series (on CBS, ABC, the WB, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang); more than 40 animated films; and two live-action movies in the early 2000s, the first of which grossed $275 million worldwide."

He gives credit to producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, "story writers" Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and animator Iwao Takamoto. I could name a dozen or more folks who deserve mucho credit but none more than Don Messick, who invented and performed for 27 years, the infectious and funny sounds of the title character. Mr. Orr also offers a quote from Carl Sagan (our national "science guy" before Bill Nye) that the show was a "public service…in which paranormal claims are systematically investigated and every case is found to be explicable in prosaic terms."

As one of the legions of soldiers who worked on the Great Dane, it pleases me to think of the show in those terms. It never occurred to me before quite that way and I'm one of those people who believes that there are no such things as real magic or paranormal occurrences, and it didn't dawn on me that that was an underlying premise of what I was writing. But yeah, if we taught some kids that there's always a real-world explanation, that might be the most valuable lesson that was ever in any cartoon show or comic book I worked on. (The other lesson — which I believe in and was aware I was conveying — is that it's always better to out-think the bad guy as opposed to overpowering him.)

I was not fond of Scooby Doo when it debuted on TV and would have passed on writing the comic book had not I been eager to work with Dan Spiegle, who was drawing it at the time. I'm still so very glad I did…but I also came to appreciate the simplicity and beauty of the original, unimproved Scooby Doo format. The umpteen variations on it have prolonged the property's existence while at the same time demonstrating how they can't improve upon it. Wait'll you see how the next five or ten "new looks" prove that.

As we hit the big Four-Oh here in the Fortress, I'm still fine and feeling quite fortunate that I'm feeling fine. The other day on the phone, a friend who follows these dispatches said to me, "I like the way you're taking it one day at a time," and I thought, "No, that's not what I'm doing at all."

I mean, there's a sense in which you have to take everything one day at a time because that is how you live them. There's no option in my life to experience Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday simultaneously. You have to plan ahead in this world, especially when if you place an Instacart order for groceries today, they don't have a delivery date open until a week from Tuesday, by which time they'll be all out of Miracle Whip.

But it does help — or at least it helps me — to not try to plan too far ahead. Like you, I have no idea when this thing will end or what the world around me will be like when it does. Which businesses will reopen and when? What activities in my life can resume and when and how? I dunno. And since I dunno, trying to plan for that is (a) a waste of time and (b) an avoidable frustration when some or all plans, as they inevitably will, prove futile.

I also think that obsessing about Donald Trump is bad for me. He's bad for the country and thinking too much about him is bad for me. If he's driving you bugfuck, you might want to try it. It's one of those "que sera, sera" deals. Whatever will be will be. Or at least that's how I feel at the moment. I can start caring more when we're closer to Election Day — that is, if he's even on the ballot.

So many unpredictable things have happened this year already that it wouldn't surprise me if Trump or even Biden wasn't. (That's not a prediction. I'd put it at about a 5% chance. Just saying that it wouldn't surprise me.)

I wouldn't feel this way if I could do anything about it. But sometimes when you can't, the best thing is to enjoy the luxury of not being able to do anything about it. I can however do something about finishing writing assignments and cleaning my house so those take precedence.

Something else I can do is more of those online chats…though I've also decided that Zoom is not the ideal platform. It gets unwieldy with more than about fifty people participating and I have about 350 requests for invites to the next one. Zoom is great for conferencing and it has become an integral tool in my life but I need something else. Tonight, I'm doing a test of a different method and if it works out, I'll be setting up more online panels and interviews and they'll be open to all. So there's no need for you to write in and ask for an invite.

I love this video. Take it full-screen on your monitor. 44 performers in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line demonstrate what the show would look like in The Age of Social Distancing…

Groucho on The Dick Cavett Show in 1969…

Here's my all-time favorite musical group…Spike Jones and the City Slickers with their massacre rendition of "Twelfth Street Rag." Yeah, The Beatles were great but could John or Paul play a clarinet that went through several human heads? I think not. And I'll betcha that's Billy Barty playing the bottom half of Elvis, back in the days when other shows wouldn't show him below the waist…

Properly masked and gloved, I took a walk yesterday afternoon — to the ATM at my bank to deposit a $12.47 check, to a corner mailbox to mail off my WGA dues statement and, since I was in the area, a McDonald's. Since this thing started, the closest I've been to a place that prepares food, not counting my kitchen, was the drive-thru at a Pollo Loco. Before any wiseguy suggests that what McDonald's offers is not food: You oughta see what comes out of my kitchen.

I ordered via their app on my iPhone then walked over and actually went into the McDonald's. I've heard that a lot of their outlets have closed the going-inside part and just operate the drive-thru. This particular McDonald's has no drive-thru and the alterations within were impressive and serious. Everyone in the place was masked and gloved and the counterpersons were behind large, stylish plexiglass panels. The entire counter was not shielded; just the part where you stand when you place your order.

The floor was marked with one-way arrows to lead you into a curving line that snaked all through the dining room up to where you order and it was marked off with WAIT HERE signs spaced six feet apart. At the same time, other signs informed you that to sit at a table and consume your meal there was forbidden. Someone had given this a lot of thought and I felt about as safe as I could have felt in a public place.

When I walked in, I was the only one there so I short-cut the long-and-curving line and showed the counterperson the order number on my app. My credit card had already been charged so all he had to do was hand me my bag o' fries, burger and McNuggets, which was not ready yet. As I waited, a kerchiefed lady came in and as she waited for her order, we got to talking from behind my mask and her kerchief.

On the way in, we'd both passed a rather sad-looking homeless gent outside, leaning on a shopping cart that probably contained everything he owned in the world. He asked me to help him get a meal and I said, "On my way out" and went on in. She'd done the same and she said to me, "I feel like I should give that poor man five or ten bucks." I said, "You put up ten and I'll put up ten and we'll get him a $20.00 gift card." She agreed, we bought one and on our way out together, I handed it to the fellow. He was very grateful and thanked us about eighteen times.

As we walked off, he was still looking at that card like a tiny miracle in hand. You can't get much of a miracle these days for twenty bucks but I guess when you have nothing, anything can be a miracle. I can't quite explain it but I think that meant more to him than if we'd just given him a twenty-dollar bill.

And I felt a strong connection to that lady even though I didn't know her name or even what she looked like. It was a nice moment and when I got home, the fries were still warm and so was I. I think I need to get out of my house and take more walks.

A lesson in dating with Rowan Atkinson…

We had a fun time last night with our little online discussion. 52 of you were on with us as Marv Wolfman and I talked about comics and we were also joined by Marvel writer-editor Scott Edelman and by my best buddy Sergio Aragonés. I'm going to keep doing these, experimenting with guests, topics, formats and software. I'm not sure where I'm going with this but you might enjoy participating in some of the trips. Watch this space for details.

An actress I know called me the other day to say she'd acquired a supply of really good breathe-thru masks — not the kind that medical personnel need to wear because they get first dibs on those. But these are, she said, some of the best that are proper for civilians to wear and I'll try to tell you what they are once I have a reason to go out and test them.

She brought me two and wouldn't allow me to pay her cash for them. She was, however, willing to accept two rolls of paper towels and two rolls of toilet paper. Those are apparently becoming the coin of the realm. You're considered rich these days not if you have lots of money but if you have lots of the quicker picker-upper.

And by the way: I got another Instacart delivery yesterday. I was going to tip my Designated Shopper but she didn't have change for a Charmin.

No matter what happens in this world, you can go online and find someone protesting it. A lot of folks are upset that there will be no Comic-Con in San Diego this year as if the virus that's killing so many people can be ignored and the con would be just as it has always been. I guess they're a subset of the folks who who are demanding that everything be reopened, in some cases immediately. I saw this guy on the news and decided to get a frame-grab of him…

Assuming he's not a parody — and it's getting harder and harder to be sure about that kind of thing — what's the position here? That COVID-19 (which as Kellyanne Conway will tell you is the nineteenth COVID) isn't really dangerous but "I always wear a Hazmat suit while protesting"? Is that the premise?

The closing of most parts of this country was quick because a lot of people were scared — rightfully so, I think. The reopening will be slow for the same reason. I'm leaving the Fortress of Solitude here not when any elected official tells me…not even when Dr. Fauci tells me…but when I tell me, and that'll have a lot to do with what my personal physician tells me. That may be a while.

Thurl Ravenscroft and his deep, deep voice spoke for Tony the Tiger, sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" in the Chuck Jones version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and was in so many Disney projects that in 1995, he was designated an official Disney Legend.  A lot of his work was done as part of various quartets, especially the Mellomen.  Here's a commercial they did for some TV show to celebrate and sell the 1957 Plymouth.  Thanks to Tom Wagner for telling me about this…

Here's a nice long interview of Craig Ferguson, interrogated by Kathie Lee Gifford. I miss having Craig Ferguson on my TV. When he talked honestly about the world and his experiences — as opposed to trying for laughs and dancing — he was one of the most interesting people to ever host a network talk show…

I've been doing a lot of interviews today about the decision to cancel Comic-Con this year. Here's how it's being covered in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

I meant what I said in it. I feel sorry for the kid who's been working on a project he hoped to sell there or a job he'd hoped to get there. I feel sorry for the person who's been making a costume they hoped to wear there and for the dealer who expected that certain deals or sales there would bolster his or her business. Or for the person who dreamed of going there finally and this was the year. Or for the writers or artists or actors or…

Well, everyone. Everyone who was going to go there and have a good time and maybe boost their business a little.

Respect to the operators of Comic-Con International. It's a bitch to put that thing on every year and it must be at least a quintuple-bitch to call if off and deal with the refunds and the hotels and the local businesses and the convention center and the exhibitors and the San Diego police and the Chamber of Commerce and the unions and the travel agencies and the parking concessions and the insurance companies and I'll bet I could make this list ten times as long if I knew more about how the con operates. I know enough to know how miraculous it is that they pull it off every year and putting it off must be tougher.

Don't whine about it. It's just another loss from this fuckin' pandemic and far from the saddest one. But they had to do it…and good for them for doing it now. I just have to figure out where I'm going to cosplay as Princess Leia this year.

As advertised, the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber are being posted on YouTube for limited times. You have about 47 hours from the time of this posting to watch The Phantom of the Opera, which is the longest-running show in the history of Broadway. We will all be dead and buried before any other show even challenges that record…

• Since the Comic-Con in San Diego is canceled for this year, I intend to spend July 22-26 wandering the streets aimlessly, hosting panels with anyone I run into.