• I've never watched a Super Bowl but I may start tomorrow if I can't find anything else on TV that doesn't have Chris Christie on it.

As we've discussed, I was in Santa Cruz last Wednesday to sign stuff at my buddy Joe Ferrara's bookstore. The night before, I was in San Jose and I went to the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. In this case, the art being performed there was the musical Something Rotten.

I first saw a different, Equity touring company do this show in L.A. in December of 2017 and I liked it a whole lot.  This current troupe is traipsing from town to town — sometimes only for a night or two — all across the U.S. They open in Tucson next Tuesday.

Sometimes, I see a show like this and I can't help but think, "People this talented ought to be able to make a living doing shows without spending their lives on buses." The brutal life of Renaissance times they were singing about might be nothing compared to playing that show on a Wednesday night in St. Louis and getting to Muncie in time to do it on Thursday night there. How they pack all those sets, props and costumes and get them set up in the next town is beyond me.

But maybe some of those players enjoy the adventure. And maybe some of them feel as a friend of mine did when I asked her about a string of one- and two-nighters she did once in a roving band performing Grease. She said, "I would rather live six months like that and get to perform almost every night than spend those six months doing office-temp work because I can't get a job acting in town."

This production of Something Rotten was was pretty darned good for a non-Equity production with several folks who I'm sure would not have been outta place when this musical was on Broadway. Maybe not everyone but several.  A scan of their credits in the program indicates that a lot of them have done this kind of tour before so they knew what they were getting themselves into. Maybe I'm wrong to think they don't love every minute of it.

The San Jose Center for the Performing Arts is a big, oddly-constructed place. It was obviously built to house musicals (mostly) but somehow, no one thought to build an orchestra pit under the stage. It's in front of it instead, distancing the audience from the performers who are on a rather tall stage. In order for them to be able to see the conductor, they had to elevate him on a platform…and then they installed a wall around the pit so the audience couldn't see the conductor except, occasionally, his hands.

I somehow wound up in the center of the first row so there was this wall in front of me and I had to look up and over to see the actors — and I could only see them from about the shins up with the wall blocking the rest of them. When someone fell down on stage, I couldn't see them at all.

I think I was the tallest person in the front row. The lady next to me said she could only see of the performers from about the waist up. Still, she loved the show. Everyone did, including me. I just don't get what the guy who designed that theater was thinking.

So it comes out that an old school yearbook of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has in it a photo of a guy in blackface posing along with a guy in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

Northam's immediate response is to release a statement saying, "Earlier today, a website published a photograph of me from my 1984 medical school yearbook in a costume that is clearly racist and offensive." He does not identify whether he is the guy in blackface or the guy in the Klan hood.

Amidst demands for his resignation, Northam now says he is thinking maybe he isn't in the photo because he can't recall for sure if he ever put on blackface makeup or a Ku Klux Klan costume…and who among us could remember a thing like that? Are you absolutely certain you never put on blackface makeup or a Ku Klux Klan costume? I can't recall precisely when but it wouldn't surprise me if I'd done it a dozen times.

Northam says he is willing to let facial recognition scanning check him and the photo out to prove he is not in the photo. And of course, facial recognition scanning is infallible on people wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods. Do I have this right?

See that guy on the couch? That's our friend Frank Ferrante not portraying Groucho Marx, See that lady on him? That's a splendid actress (also, a friend) Dreya Weber. They're currently appearing in Ken Ludwig's play A Comedy of Tenors at the historic Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia. It's there through March 3 and if I could get back there to see it, I would.  The whole cast, I hear, is terrific.

Frank also directed this production of Mr. Ludwig's raucous farce comedy. When correctly performed, as the reviews all say it is, it's one of those shows where things happen at such a rapid pace, you're afraid to take your gaze off the stage for two instants. (Ludwig will be part of an onstage talkback after the performance on 2/20.) Boy, would I like to see this…when it's warmer. It's 23° in Philadelphia at the moment.

Don't worry.  Frank is not abandoning Groucho for long.  He has a day off from the play on 2/25. Anyone else starring in a play that frenetic — playing two roles, in fact — would spend that day sleeping. Frank's throwing sanity to the wind and doing his acclaimed An Evening With Groucho show that night on the same stage. Tickets for both can be procured here.

Like I said, I'd love to see it but I may get no closer than watching this 90-second "sizzle" reel. One assumes the other 5,910 seconds of the play are equally mad…

William Saletan disproves Donald Trump's repeated claim that most Americans support the building of The Wall.  Trump will never admit it, of course.  For Trump, there is no proof possible that he is wrong on some supposed fact or that he does not have the majority of the nation solidly behind him.

Saletan doesn't mention it but a lot of those who did support The Wall at the time of Trump's election did so under the belief that Trump had some way to force Mexico to cut a check for the entire cost of the project.  I'm in favor of a lot of things until I see what I'm going to have to pay.  And yes, the case can be made that Trump didn't explicitly say Mexico would make a direct payment (except he kinda did) but a lot of people sure thought that was the idea.

A question I'd like to see him asked is: "You keep saying The Wall is desperately needed.  Is it so desperately needed that the U.S. should foot the full cost even if there's no chance of Mexico paying any of the cost in any way?"

And another is: "Would Donald Trump the real estate tycoon commit to fund a project if he knew as little about it as we know about what The Wall will cost, what it will be made of, what it will cost to acquire private real estate to build it on, who will build it, when approximately it will be completed, what will be the ongoing costs of upkeep on it, etc.?"

Shin Lim. Boy, this guy is good…

I haven't done one of these lately because just about every website is turning into a Trump Dump these days. But for the many of you who read no other website but this one…

• In the coming showdown over budget negotiations regarding The Wall, there are three possible outcomes. At least, that's how Jim Newell figures it. He explains how Trump will like none of them. My guess is we will wind up with no real bucks for his wall but Trump will fiercely try to spin it as a total victory for him and insist, "I got everything I wanted!"
• Fred Kaplan notes that just about everything Trump is saying about U.S. security and conditions overseas is being contradicted by departments within the executive branch and people that he appointed. Isn't it comforting to know that in matters relating to war and international relations, either Trump is dead wrong or his intelligence departments are?
• And as Alex Ward explains, Trump is dealing with this discrepancy by lying about what those departments are saying.
• Congress is voting to stop Trump's plan to withdraw U.S. military forces from Syria and Afghanistan. As Kevin Drum explains, this kind of translates to "We should stay there forever." I have two thoughts about this. One is that this may be one of those outlier matters where Trump is right (or mostly right) and those opposing him are wrong. The other thought is just that John McCain would be so happy.
• Max Boot doesn't think Trump is taking the right approach with Syria and Afghanistan. So there's the other side of that argument.
• When employment numbers under Obama looked good, Trump insisted the numbers were fake and that unemployment had never been higher. Now that the steady drop in unemployment under Obama continues, Trump insists those numbers are very real and that the "fake news" is that the press is not reporting how successful he's been. Emily Stewart has more.
• Jonathan Chait takes us through the curious thought process of those who deny the revelations to date of the Mueller investigation. Not just a river in Egypt.

And here are some recent thoughts from Frank Rich about Howard Schultz, the upcoming State of the Union address and other topics. For more Trump Dump stories, consult almost any other website on the 'net.

51. When a character is killed in a comic book, that character is only dead if the present controller of the copyright wants him or her to be at that moment.
52. If a comic book page needs arrows to tell the reader the order in which the panels should be read, it's probably not a well-designed page.
53. Adding more word balloons and sales blurbs to the cover of a comic book rarely makes it more saleable but those additions always lessen the impact of the image.
54. A lot of us try too hard to turn whatever we work on into a facsimile of the first comic book we really loved as a child.
55. Sometimes, having one of the best artists ink the work of another of the best artists results in a comic that, while nice-looking, isn't as wonderful as what either artist would have done on their own.
56. When you write a comic book with a lot of captions, stop before you submit your script and read over all those captions to make sure they're all in the same tense.
57. The Comics Code might have been necessary in the fifties but they could have gotten rid of it in 1970 and the only thing that would have been different is that a few comics might have been a little better.
58. Word balloons usually overlap everything in the panel but sometimes, part of one is tucked behind a character's head or some object in the panel. When they are tucked behind, no part of them should overlap something or someone that is supposed to be closer to "camera."
59. "Villain" is not spelled "villian," nor is "weird" spelled "wierd."
60. The word "anniversary" refers to a number of years. If a comic has been published for 20 years, we can celebrate its anniversary. If it has been published for 100 issues, that is an impressive achievement but it is not an anniversary.
61. In any ongoing series, the writer needs to remember that some readers did not read previous issues.
62. If anyone else working for the company has the same first name as you and a last name that starts with the same letter as yours does, you will eventually receive one of his paychecks.
63. Readers like to see the character clearly from time to time in full-figure poses. This is especially true when the comic features characters who are visually interesting. Don't always show the character in shadows or head shots.
64. If you run a "pin-up" page in a comic, less than .0001% of the readers will actually pin it up.
65. When a writer needs to convey a lot of exposition that can only be done via dialogue, that writer needs to think of something visually interesting that the characters can be doing as they say all that stuff. Standing around talking is not visually interesting.
66. In any office that employs more than 7 people, there is always one employee who knows where everything is and keeps the office functional and operating. The readers of the comics that come out of that office are usually totally unaware of that person.
67. If you write comic books for more than five years, you will one day come up with a sensational idea for a story and you will then write several pages of it before you realize you did it before.
68. Sound effects should not cover the drawing of whatever is making that sound.
69. Ever since Amazing Spider-Man #50 in 1967, it is required that any super-hero comic at some point has a storyline in which the hero gets fed up with being a hero and quits and throws away his or her costume.
70. Retroactively changing something in a character's origin story is a sneaky, devious way to generate a new plot.
71. If in a comic you use the phrase, "Trapped in a world he never made," you need to explain (a) what world he is trapped in, (b) what world he did make and would prefer to be in, and most importantly, (c) how many worlds has this character made and how is it that he or she has the ability to make worlds?
72. Fans often say about some artist, "He can't draw Superman" or "He can't draw Spider-Man" or you can insert the name of any established character…but that's not true. A professional comic book artist can draw any character. He or she just may not draw them to match your favorite version of how that character looks.
73. In a store, if a potential customer looks at a comic and isn't sure if he or she already has that issue, he or she will decide not to purchase it. For that reason, the cover of this month's issue should look nothing like the cover of last month's issue. If nothing else, they should have very different color schemes, especially in the logo.
74. If (and only if) it will not crowd the drawing in the panel, small word balloons should float near the person speaking what's in them. They should not be jammed up against a panel border, away from their speaker and situated so the white in the balloon meets up with the white on the other side of the panel border.
75. If you work in comic books and you meet someone who asks you what you do, you should never hesitate to tell him you work in comic books. And I wish those who act ashamed of it would do me and themselves a favor and get the hell out of the business.

The last 25 of these will be along in a few weeks.

Dave Portnoy, who covers sports and does daily pizza reviews on YouTube, is in Atlanta for the Super Bowl. I like watching his reviews, which is not to say I agree with all his reviews of slices I've sampled or don't wince at some of the things he says about passers-by on the street or the racial makeup of some of the pizza makers.

But there is a nice sense of reality about his videos. Here he is blowing his top and cussing out a rapper who was supposed to be there as a guest pizza reviewer and didn't show up…and then the guy shows up. The pizza gets a bad review not because it was bad but because Dave let it get cold before he sampled it. Doesn't seem fair, does it? You make the call…

I had a very nice time signing books yesterday at Joe Ferrara's Atlantis Fantasyworld in Santa Cruz.  I know very little about the retail end of the comic book industry.  I'm rarely in shops as a special-type guest or even as a customer.  The last time before yesterday was, I suspect, the last time I went to Indiana on business.

Some time ago, a friend of mine who works in that area for DC or Marvel — and who would probably prefer I didn't give their name or which of those firms employs them — told me that about a third of comic shop owners really love comic books, a third understand how to run a business and both of those are true of the remaining third. He or she said it is only that third third who are successful for any length of time. I guess that's approximately true.

Joe has been selling funnybooks and other such goodies in Santa Cruz for around four and a half decades so you can figure out where he fits into that equation. I was impressed with the smart layout of the store, the fine staff Joe has there…and most of all, with the way he greeted so many of his customers yesterday by name.

It was a huge contrast to that place in Indiana where I couldn't find any of the comics I wanted to see. When I asked the employee on duty (pretty sure he was not the owner) if they stocked them, I got back a megadose of "Who cares?" He pointed to a rack of the hottest current books, expecting (I think) I'd come to my senses and grab a handful of them instead. I walked out without buying anything. If and when folks exit Joe's store empty-handed, it's not because he and his crew didn't care.

If you were one of those who came by yesterday to say howdy, thank you. I enjoyed meeting you.

Two things of note today! There's a new episode of Stu's Show today and Stu's in-studio guest is one of the best voiceover guys in the business, Neil Ross. Neil had a great career in radio and then he moved into doing both promo-type announcing and also cartoon voices.

You wanna hear how good he is at his job? Click below. This only runs 47 seconds, short but sweet…

If you're interested in that field — as a fan or as a voiceover star of tomorrow — he's the kind of guy you oughta listen to and you can listen to him today on Stu's Show. You can also watch him and that program on any Roku-enabled TV set and also some other ways. This page will tell you how to watch or listen for free.

You can even read Neil since he's guesting to promote his autobiography, Vocal Recall. That can be ordered here on Amazon but I'm going to suggest going to this page where you can order a paperback copy, a Kindle copy, a PDF copy or — most intriguing — an audio MP3 where Neil reads the book and performs many of his voices.

Also today, if you're anywhere near Santa Cruz, California: I'll be signing stuff today at the fine seller of books and comics and books about comics and books full of comics and comic books, Atlantis Fantasyworld. The shop is located at 1020 Cedar St. — in Santa Cruz (of course) and I'll be there from Noon 'til 6 PM or maybe Noon 'til five, depending on the turnout. But I will be there. Come by, say hello, get me to write my name on something just to prove I can do it.

I mentioned the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society in this post. That prompted Mike Frank to write to say…

Whomever told you that comic books were a problem with L.A.S.F.S. members was a jerk. Comic books have always been a big part of L.A.S.F.S.

In fact in the late 70's, I sold comic books at L.A.S.F.S. every week. My clients included the president of the club.

In the late seventies, sure. But the snottiness I encountered from a few members was more like 1969. As with any group though, you always have those who think what they like is great and what they don't know from is garbage…and it was true then that most of the active comic fans around were younger than the science-fiction fans.

I didn't take the condescension of a few of them towards comics that seriously. It was more like the upper classmen at school looking down on the lower classmen just because they were lower classmen. None of this was a big deal and it's less of one now. I just thought it was odd to be belittled for liking fantasy by someone who was paranoid about being belittled for liking fantasy.

Mr Dooves (whoever he is) is back with his a cappella rendition of the theme from The Muppet Show. Yayyyyyy!

If you encounter a cluck who thinks that real cold temperatures and blizzards prove that Global Warming is a myth, link them to this page which explains why not. It probably won't do any good because they're going to believe what they want to believe…but give it a try. Can't hurt.

And note that these people are the same people who, every time an election doesn't go their way, insist that it was rigged and there's proof that tens of thousands of illegal aliens voted. And their "proof" is usually something like, "My guy couldn't have lost fairly. Everyone I know voted for him!"

Fred Kaplan says it would be a huge mistake for the U.S. to use military force against Venezuela. Hey, since when has Donald Trump been adverse to making a huge mistake? Especially when he thinks it will distract people from paying attention to his previous huge mistake…