I don't intend to post much more about the horrors in Paris since I still haven't thought of anything non-obvious to say about it. But this afternoon, I happened to come upon a quote from Jim Henson and it struck a timely note with me. I posted it on my Facebook page and I thought I oughta post it here too…

At some point in my life I decided, rightly or wrongly, that there are many situations in this life that I can't do much about — acts of terrorism, feelings of nationalistic prejudice, Cold War, etc. — so what I should do is concentrate on the situations that my energy can affect.

I think that's a real good way to look at tragedies like this. I doubt anyone reading this blog — and certainly no one typing on it at the moment — can do the slightest thing to prevent what happened in Paris from happening again. We probably can't do anything on that scale of bettering the world. But we can do what we can do and that usually isn't nothing.

People who do impressions of Oliver Hardy often quote him as saying, "Here's another fine mess you've gotten me into." Okay…but what he said in those movies was "Another nice mess." The confusion is understandable since they did make one film — excerpted in the montage below — called Another Fine Mess. Here are a number of times he said it the way he said it…

Yesterday before the attacks in Paris, Fred Kaplan had an article up on Slate that I meant to link to about the efforts this weekend to find some way to contain ISIS. That article has now been updated in light of the slaughter.

I'm not going to pretend that I know a lot about this kind of thing…or even that my opinion (if I had one) matters. I do fear a lot of bogus arguments about how we have to support So-and-So for President in this country because he/she is the kind of person to fight the terrorists, keep us safe, scare the enemy or even — God help us — "take the fight to them." But my view is that at least 95% of those we'll hear from in the media don't really have a clue what to do about this except maybe how to manipulate it to their own immediate advantage…and I hope that our immediate leaders are not in that 95+%.

I'm not sure what the next post on this site will be about but I'm going to try to transition away from this topic and towards one where I claim a lot more expertise…

I feel I should write something about the ghastly atrocities in Paris. An attack like that cries out for condemnation and sympathy and compassion and a general expression of shock. The trouble is that I can't think of a single thing to write that is not obvious to anyone who has the slightest trace of humanity and decency. All I'm coming up with are the usual clichés — and they're insufficient for a horror of this magnitude.

David Spade has an autobiography out and in this interview with Esquire, he says that he forgot to mention in the book that he was offered Late Night on NBC after David Letterman left. If he'd taken it, Conan O'Brien might still be writing on The Simpsons or something.

A friend wrote to ask if I think it's true that Spade was offered it and said no. Given that two of the three men he says took him to lunch and made the offer are still around and could deny it if it was a fib, I'd say yeah, that meeting probably happened pretty much as he describes it. But the thing to remember is that his saying yes would have been step one in the process, followed by negotiations and other folks approving and working out logistics and such.

In other words, it's possible that if Spade had wanted the gig, it still might not have happened…or as he got deeper into the details, he might have changed his mind. Before they made that offer to Spade, they'd apparently offered it to Dana Carvey, gotten a tentative yes and then Carvey backed out.

Sometimes, it's as simple as if I say I want to sell my car and you say you want to buy it. We don't really have a deal you could say yes or no to until we settle on a price or until you get it inspected or until we figure out who'll pay the license transfer fees and so on. A lot of agreements fall apart as you work out the finer points. Or as one or both parties face the reality of what they've tentatively agreed-to. There are rumors about stars who were offered talk shows, said yes…and then began to realize how much work one of those things is and how great the career gamble would be for them.

I'm always a bit skeptical when someone in Show Biz tells me they were offered some great job but they turned it down. A lot of times, that's wishful thinking…or exaggerating a slight chance at something into a firm offer. But people do sometimes turn things down…and there's also a grey area where it was sorta/kinda offered and they sorta/kinda said yes but then they didn't do it or the offer evaporated or got vetoed upstairs or something.

I have no idea, by the way, how Late Night with David Spade might have been. I've generally enjoyed the guy when I've seen him but I haven't seen him a lot. And there's a big difference between being funny now and then, and being funny five nights a week, week in and week out. A friend of mine told me once that his brother had been scouted as a pitcher for the Dodgers and the verdict was that the guy was one of the best pitchers they'd ever seen…for about an inning and a half. After throwing to four or five batters, he lost all control and was pretty much useless. A lot of performers are like that, too.

Kevin Drum thinks this election is not about the economy. It's about the Culture Wars: Illegal immigration, political correctness, abortion, Obamacare, Vladimir Putin, the War on Christianity, etc., and it's about a lot of Americans who feel "their" America is being stolen from them. I think he's right and if you view it that way, it sure explains why a lot of folks would flock towards a Ben Carson — who says the "right" things as far as they're concerned. Never mind that he doesn't seem to know how government and foreign policy works and doesn't seem to think it's necessary to learn.

I just fixed an error in the previous listing. Last night in my drug-induced stupor, I typed that Act One was the story of how Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman wrote their first play together, You Can't Take It With You. That was actually their third play. The first, as it now says below, was Once In A Lifetime. That's the one that Act One is all about. Forgive me. I'm weaning myself off my heavier medications and transitioning to more natural things…like biting on a bullet or moaning. My thanks to the bazillions of you who let me know I typed the wrong title.

By the way: My knee is getting better but that is small consolation in a way. I didn't mention this before because it wasn't definite but it's now about a 95% certainty that in 6-10 weeks, I have to go in for a third and hopefully final operation on it. You can just imagine how we love that prospect. If a fourth proves necessary, I may just do it myself at home with a roll of duct tape and a ball peen hammer.

Tonight on most PBS stations, Live From Lincoln Center is presenting James Lapine's stage adaptation of Moss Hart's Act One, which is one of those "must-read" books for anyone interested in the theater. I have not seen this production but I will be seeing it on TV along with, perhaps, you.

The first half of the book can be almost skimmed but the second half, which I presume is all the play derives from, is the story of how young, inexperienced Hart teamed up with older, experienced George S. Kaufman to write the play, Once In A Lifetime, which struggled its way to New York, almost closing several times on the way. Books written after Act One have suggested that Mr. Hart omitted certain of his earlier attempts as a playwright so as to make himself seem more the beginner that he actually was. No matter. It's still a grand rags-to-rubies story…and we're all curious to see how Tony Shalhoub comes off as Kaufman.

Live From Lincoln Center shows are not always rerun as many times as a lot of things on PBS. This one seems to be getting a few airings at least on KOCE in Los Angeles but if I were you, I'd watch or record the first showing. You never know.

Daniel Larison on how nuts Ben Carson is. The stuff about the pyramids is small 'taters. The frightening things are when Carson shows how little he knows about foreign policy. He suggests actions that might get us into an armed conflict with Russia and when asked about that, Carson replies, "Whatever happens next, we deal with it." How would you feel if that was your doctor's plan for your surgery?

If you think your opinion of Dick Cheney couldn't sink any lower, I offer you Nicholas Lemann and his piece on the relationship between Cheney and the Bush family.

Video artist Fernando Livschitz created this long (2:25) film for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and the program's opening titles were made using moments from it. I don't particularly like it as the opening of a talk show but the video itself is quite lovely.

By the way: Some folks in the TV biz have sent me data suggesting that Mr. Colbert's ratings may not be as wonderful as a recently-linked item here suggests, especially since he now must do without NFL Football as a lead-in. That may be but I stand by my prediction that he'll overtake all competition.

And in case you haven't seen it's, here's the webpage where you can search for your name and probably locate a video, furnished by the Late Show, of Darlene Love singing "Happy Birthday to You"…

I love Cheerios — but only the plain, original kind. I therefore have not and will not try its latest variation, Cheerios Protein. Tom Philpott says it's a scam, advertised as containing a lot more protein but actually containing only a tiny bit more…and a load more sugar.

Ben Casselman asks the musical question, "The economy is better — why don't voters believe it?"

All the stuff I need to do for my knee plus all the work I have to make up because I was unexpectedly hospitalized leaves me too busy for the next few days to blog the way I'd like. I'm also waaaay behind on e-mail so please understand if you don't get the reply you think yours warrants or don't get it for a while. (The Catch-22 of Blogging: The more you post, the more people want to engage in private correspondence with you…)

For those who asked: Yes, I can walk. No, I can't walk well but it gets a tad better each day. I'm pretty much living upstairs in my house, not going out and making as few trips as possible down and up the steps. In the hospital, social workers and occupational therapists kept coming by to see me and we'd always have this exchange…

THEM: How long is your commute to work each day?

ME: From my bed to my office, about fifteen seconds.

Most of the other questions on their little forms didn't apply to me, either. One woman looked at me like I was daft when she asked me what kind of hours I work and I told her, "Whenever I can or have to." Don't more and more people these days work freelance from home? Why is this so startling?

I won't be posting soup cans for a while but I also won't be posting as much here as I usually post. All will return to normal as my knee does.

This will probably only be meaningful to fans of Allan Sherman…but a few days ago as I was being transported from hospital to hospital, I glanced out the ambulance window and I thought, "Ah! I finally found out where the Drapes of Roth are stored!"