This morning, I was up in San Francisco for a darned good reason: To speak at a lovely memorial service for one of the best human beings it has ever been my pleasure/honor/privilege (they all apply) to know…Lee Mendelson. I wrote about Lee here and here and here and here, and as I read them over now, I don't think any of them sufficiently conveyed just what a wise, kind man I knew him to be.

Yes, he produced the they'll-rerun-it-forever TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas and dozens of other Peanuts specials. Yes, he gave us other animated shows with characters like Garfield and Cathy and Mother Goose & Grimm, as well as dozens of live-action documentaries and films and specials. Yes, he had awards galore. All of that is true and it was all mentioned at the memorial today — a memorial, I should mention that was lavishly and lovingly produced by his kids. Maybe good producing skills are hereditary.

But we also talked about Lee the Man…the very human human being. In a time when there is way too much coarseness and shouting and knifing on this planet, it was wonderful to hear the stories about working with Lee.

And you know what else is wonderful to hear? David Benoit at the piano…maybe the best jazz musician working today. He did the music on many of Lee's shows and he took the time to be there and to talk about his association with Lee and to favor us with a recital. I was three feet from him as he was playing "Linus and Lucy" and I could feel the ripple effect as some in the room felt the electricity and others dove for the Kleenex. I will remember that performance for a long time.

There were touching words from Lee's past associates and members of the Mendelson family. His widow Ploenta delivered one of the most emotional and real speeches I've ever heard at this kind of event, and later, I got up and said some silly things. I was also pleased to see Phil Roman there. As recounted here, Lee helped Phil to establish one of the best animation studios in town and he, like all of us, was there to pay his respects.

There were so many great stories. I wish you'd all had the chance to know this guy.

It's him again…

"Stickmaker" (aka Rod Smith) wrote me…

Your advice about not binging on Tex Avery cartoons reminded me of something that happened when someone at a RPG get-together said he'd never seen a Marx Brothers movie. Another guy and I — both of us at least familiar with the Brothers and their work — started recommending movies. The guy looked thoughtful and said he'd try to watch those the coming weekend.

The other fan and I looked at each other, looked back at him, and in close to a chorus said, "Don't binge on those. You'd never survive."

We both recommended A Night at the Opera as our first choice. Which is probably not surprising.

That's the one I would have picked. There are Marx Brothers snobs who say it's the Paramount films or nothing. While I agree that what's wonderful about the Marx Brothers is more wonderful in their Paramount films, I refuse to whittle their legacy down to just five films, the first of which ain't all that wonderful. A Night at the Opera is, I think, the perfect introductory film for someone who's never seen a Marx Brothers movie.

This is something I've had to think about because my friend Amber has never seen a Marx Brothers movie. One of these days, she's going to accompany me to a performance of Frank Ferrante's show and it would be nice if she saw the real Groucho in action before she sees the impersonator. I could have shown her any of the Marx movies on the DVD player in my den but I also think one's introduction to them should be when one is surrounded by a live, laughing audience. So I may have to settle for whatever film some local theater chooses to show and that seems to mainly be the Paramounts.

Of those, my pick would be Horse Feathers. If someone doesn't love that film, there's no point in showing them any other one. It's like if you go to a new Italian restaurant. You should order the spaghetti and meatballs because if they can't make that wonderful, it's a waste of time to try the veal parmigiana. By the way, A Night in Casablanca has about as many laughs in it as an order of veal parmigiana.

Also by the way: I mentioned that when I went to that Tex Avery marathon, I discovered my limit for Tex Avery cartoons watched in one sitting was seven. I also once went to a marathon of Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoons and my breaking point on those was five.

A bunch of my friends once went to an all-day screening of all the James Bond films in the order of release. We intended to stay to the end, which then would have meant through Diamonds Are Forever. But by the end of Goldfinger, I began to feel like someone was torturing me to get me to divulge top secret information and I wound up fleeing halfway through Thunderball. Today, I don't think I could make it through a double feature of anything.

I really like CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin and I think most of his predictions are spot-on. But let's note that eighteen months ago, he was firmly predicting that Roe v. Wade would be gone by now. I think he forgot to take into account that if they're going to do it, they're not going to do it when re-electing Donald Trump is a higher priority…

I just had a nice gent come to my door to see if (a) I was registered for the primary and (b) I'm supporting Elizabeth Warren and (c) if not, could I be talked into supporting Elizabeth Warren. I never buy anything — be it magazine subscriptions, Fuller Brushes, a religion, a political candidate or a guaranteed-to-be-real Rolex for eight bucks — from someone who comes to my door. I do not like strangers at my door.

But this gent was polite and sincere and he didn't ask for any money so I answered him honestly. Yes, I'm registered. No, I haven't decided who I'll vote for in the primary. There's still plenty of time and you just know that a couple of those folks are going to say something or have something revealed about them that might cause you to change your vote. I'd fine with any of the top four in the White House but I'm not thrilled, for example, with Ms. Warren's quoting what Mr. Sanders said, perhaps not in perfect context, or Mr. Sanders' new ad against Mr. Biden.

And I'm not even sure if I'm going to vote for the person I think would make the best President of the United States or the person who I think might do best against Donald Trump. I'm kinda waiting for the indicators to coincide because I'd like to believe that's the same person. So far, I don't think it is.

As near as I can tell, the sixth volume of Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips is now everywhere it's supposed to be except for stores that have sold out of their first delivery. If you live in my area and you order it via Amazon Prime in the next hour, they will deliver your copy today. Can't ask for much more available than that. (And of course, the Kindle edition will come to you via instant delivery but I think this is one of those books that's more wonderful in your hands than on your tablet.)

Over on its Amazon page, you can order or if you're not ready to do that, you can read a large sample of this edition. I think it's the best newspaper strip ever done. If you think that distinction belongs to Peanuts or Doonesbury or Krazy Kat or Ziggy…fine. We needn't mud-wrestle except maybe if you think Ziggy. But even that's fine…and a collection of the second-best strip or the third-best strip is still a wonderful thing to own. Own one soon. Better still, own all of them.

Among my many reasons for disliking Donald Trump is how his actions and words have made so many people so tense. I know one of the things some of his supporters love about him is how nervous and unhappy he makes those of us who dread the notion of him having a second term…

…but it's clear on the Internet that he's also making some of those supporters even more nervous and unhappy that he might not. If I believed the future of mankind hinges on him getting four more years, I'd be cringing every time he started ranting about windmills and toilets and looked like he was really losing whatever marbles he might once have possessed. Or each time his backers — and this is happening a lot — have to switch from "He absolutely did not do what he's being accused of" to "Yes, of course he did it but it's absolutely not a crime."

I long for the days when it was Michael Dukakis against George H. W. Bush. I cared then who won, of course, but not that much. None of my friends who had a preference — and one or two did not — feared the end of America and maybe the world if the wrong guy won.

That was kind of a dirty election, I thought…but it already looks like a picnic in the park compared to the one we have ramping up before us. By October, what we have happening now will look like the picnic.

Do yourself a favor and separate the polls that might matter now from those that don't. When folks tell pollsters that there is no way in the world they'd ever vote for Trump or no way they'd ever not vote for Trump, I think those numbers are significant. We're a stubborn people that way. Then again, I think if someone says, "If the Democratic nominee is anyone but Elizabeth Warren [or whoever], I'm not voting," I think that's less meaningful.

By Election Day, we'll be so polarized and the vote will be so much about saving the world, those folks will vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is unless it's like Donald Jr., and the way things are going, that would only surprise me a little. I'm considering anyone who isn't convinced Trump is the Anti-Christ or that Obama was a "swing voter."

This is all presuming Trump is still the Republican nominee or that there isn't a viable third-party Conservative in the race to reap the votes of those who yearn for the pre-Trump days of the G.O.P. Remember how on the original Mickey Mouse Club, one day a week was "Anything Can Happen Day?" Well, it wasn't quite anything. I mean, you knew that Annette was not going to flash the camera and Walt was not going to come out and declare free admission to Disneyland for anyone who votes for Adlai Stevenson…

…but the premise was, at least in theory, that something you never imagined might happen would happen. So welcome to "Anything Can Happen Year."

Remember how one day not so long ago, you hadn't heard anything about Trump maybe withholding aid to Ukraine until they announced an investigation into the possible corruption of people named Biden? Then suddenly, that's all you heard about.

Remember how one day not so long ago, you hadn't heard anything about the need to kill a man named Qassem Suleimani? Then suddenly, that's all you heard about.

Remember how one day not so long ago, you'd never heard of a man named Lev Parnas?

Calm the "F-word" down, people. There are a lot more Qassem Suleimanis and Lev Parnases in our future. If you get to Peak Hysteria now, where are you going to be next September, let alone the day before the election? Save it for then. That's when you may need it.

Deaf man sues Pornhub over lack of closed captions

Because what's porn if you can't enjoy the witty dialogue and follow the clever plot? Read all about it.

We're all, of course, pulling for our pal Eddie Deezen to make a swift and total recovery from his recent heart surgery. Latest word is that he's back in the Intensive Care Unit so they can monitor how well his body is fighting off a post-op infection.

We need Eddie around because, for one thing, who's going to play all those Eddie Deezen roles if he doesn't? We also need him because he's a great, sweet guy who brightens up any room he's in the way he's brightened up any movie or TV show he's been in. I know he can't see this post where he is and I doubt that sending "good vibes" to anyone has ever helped anyone…but then again, it hasn't hurt and when he gets out of that hospital and gets back on the web, he'll stumble across this page and his face will have one of those great Eddie Deezen smiles on it. So it's worth posting.

We don't have many (really, any) details but Warner Archives will soon issue a Blu Ray of the cartoons that Tex Avery directed for MGM. Those details should be out in the next few days. We hope they will not be omitting or editing any of them.

These are all wonderful cartoons but I'll start warning you now: If you try to watch more than about seven of them at one time, your brain will turn into raspberry jelly and dribble out your ears.

I'm almost not kidding. Many years ago, I joined a bunch of my friends attending a public screening of Avery cartoons. I don't remember how many there were but after about six, most of us were in the lobby…which was fine because Tex, who couldn't sit through that many at a time either, was out there holding court and answering questions. He kept saying, "They weren't meant to be shown like this." I love these films but…one or two at a time, for God's sake. The marathon felt a lot like this…

The topic here is why Rudy Giuliani is not (so far) on Donald Trump's legal team for the impeachment trial. Mr. Giuliani is probably right — and how often do any of us say that? — when he explains, "I am a potential fact witness. I think very potential but still leaves you unable to appear." But isn't the real reason that it's easier for your legal team to throw someone under the proverbial bus when that person isn't on your legal team?

William Saletan reminds us how much Trump likes the kinds of things, like war crimes and torture, that we used to think the United States of America was better than.

Every so often, the folks at The Henson Company do this wonderful show called Puppet Up!, which is a live, improvised, somewhat dirty puppet show for adults. If you live in or around Hollywood and you haven't been to see this, you're missing something you might enjoy as much as I do and I enjoy it a lot. Since it's for adults, leave the kiddos home and expect to hear naughty words from cloth mouths. And since it's improvised, based largely on suggestions from the audience, you can come back and see it again and again.

They're doing it next weekend and when I plugged this before, I said it would sell out soon. It usually does but then they usually do three shows over two days and this time, they're doing five over three. Saturday, January 25th, there's a show at 6 PM and a show at 9 PM. Sunday, January 26th, there's a show at 3 PM and a show at 6 PM. And then — this is new — they're doing a special, experimental show on Monday the 27th at 7:30 with special celebrity guests participating.

Anyway, there are tickets still available for all these performances, which take place at the Henson (formerly Chaplin) lot on La Brea near Sunset. Just being able to walk onto and around that historic studio is a treat in itself. I'll be at the Sunday 6 PM show if that matters to you. Tickets can be ordered here.

Another baby penguin video because "Why not?"…

I am of the opinion that Monica Lewinsky should be considered one of the great American heroes. That is if you see heroism in not lying to save your own skin and/or profit mightily. If during the Clinton impeachment brouhaha, she had said that Bill C. raped her and then pressured her to lie, she and her family would have had much better lives, right-wing sources would have rewarded her mightily and she would now have Megyn Kelly's old Fox News job with Megyn Kelly's NBC paycheck.

I believe that Ken Starr and his goons did everything short of waterboarding that lady and using cattle prods on her to get her to say words that would have led to Clinton's ouster or resignation. And I believe they themselves would have reaped similar financial rewards for accomplishing that…but Monica wouldn't say what a lot of people would have said. That's also true of Susan McDougal, who basically went to jail for refusing to implicate Clinton in the Whitewater scam. That was back when you couldn't be in the White House if you were at all involved in even one shady real estate deal in your past.

So today comes the news that Ken Starr — the man who considered it an impeachable offense to lie about an extra-marital affair — has joined the legal team to defend Donald J. Trump in his impeachment case. I was groping for the right words but as it turns out, I found the perfect ones on Twitter…