And here's how they did it on the TV series, Glee. (I'm talking about performing the Billy Joel song, "For the Longest Time," not humiliating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — although both are very popular on YouTube…)

Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA) questions our Secretary of Health and Human Services. As you watch this, just remember that Donald Trump picked people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr to make up his cabinet and staff…

Seth Meyers gets a informative (and very funny) segment just by quoting everything Donald Trump said and everything he did about the Israel/Iran situation…

Politifact tackles some of the factually-challenged (i.e., false) statements that have been made about "The Big, Beautiful Bill."

So…what do we know about radiation risks in Iran after the Israeli and U.S. strikes? The Associated Press debunks or clarifies some of the things being said.

Trump says that because of the bombing he ordered, "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." FactCheck.org says that ain't necessarily so.

He also says that the U.S. brought in $88 billion from tariffs in just two months. Again, FactCheck.org says otherwise.

And my favorite commentator on topics like the military and the Middle East, Fred Kaplan, has an article up entitled, "If You're Confused About the War With Iran, You Have Every Reason to Be." Well worth your attention.

Three people — Lea-Marie Sørensen, Rasmus Almlund and Nikolaj Christoffersen — sing six-part harmony on Billy Joel's song entitled…well, you know…

Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post has an article up entitled "How Israel deceived the United States about its nuclear weapons program." There doesn't seem to be a whole lotta agreement out there about what Israel has, what Iran has and what we just did with what we have.

That would include disagreement about whether Trump violated the War Power Act with his orders. Politifact digs into that.

FactCheck.org looks into statements by Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard about the nuclear capabilities of Iran.

And Ed Kilgore tries to sort out various conflicting (and perhaps erroneous) things that our leaders and others have been saying about what happened over there and whether we're technically at war. That would be nice to know.

A goodly part of my grocery shopping these days is done via Instacart. It's come in handy since I broke my ankle. It comes in handy when I want to go to few places that are not doctors' offices or comic conventions…but actually, I began using Instacart when a lot of us did, which was when COVID complicated the idea of going to a market. Some friends of mine think having your groceries delivered is more expensive and it is…a little. But Instacart also allows me to save some bucks by comparison shopping.

Here's an example. This is all about the 8.5 ounce size of Rao's Chicken Parmesan you can find in most markets' freezer cases. It's a nice thing to have in one's home freezer for those occasional moments when there's nothing else in your fridge that feels lunchable to you, not even a package of Lunchables®. But it's a little pricey, especially when you don't look around for the best price…which is easy to do online via Instacart. Here are the markets that serve my area and carry this item in this size.  And here's what they charge for one of these…

• Sprout's Farmers Market – $5.99
• Gelson's – $6.99
• Co-Opportunity Market – $7.19
• Bristol Farms – $7.39
• Pickford Market – $8.19
• Vicente Foods – $8.29
• Von's, Albertson's, Pavilions (which are all one company) – $8.49
• Lazy Acres – $9.99

Also, Amazon Fresh sells it for $4.99 but to not have to pay an exorbitant delivery fee, my order from them would have to be $100 or over so forget that.

Maybe you already knew how much prices can vary in markets but until I started ordering online, I didn't realize how much. Now, I can have it all laid out neatly for me on the screen. Sometimes, there's a variance even greater than the one above.

The next step is that someone will invent an app — maybe there already is something like this — where you type in a list of what you want to buy. Then it scans local merchants and tells you "The least expensive way to order these is to order these five items from Market A and these seven items from Market B.

Then the step after that would be for the app to have little pop-up windows where you order something you crave for dinner and you suddenly see the face of a nutritionist scolding you and saying, "Do you know how many calories are in that? Do you know how much that would spike your blood sugar? You're pre-diabetic, you fool!" Then you could not purchase the item and save even more money.

John Oliver needs to record his show the same day it's broadcast.

Here's another lady harmonizing Billy Joel's "For the Longest Time" all by herself. This is Anne Reburn…

Daniel Klos sent me this…

Following up on your recent Jim Backus posting, you said that you briefly met him at a party. I'm assuming it was a party with other show biz folks? For those of us who have never been (and likely never will go) to a Hollywood party, what are they like? Are they like a networking event in other industries? I'm guessing that there are usually people there of varying levels of fame.

Do people get starstruck at these parties? Or do most people check their egos at the door? Particularly for someone like you who grew up in Los Angeles and were regularly around people that most of us would consider celebrities of varying degrees (e.g., meeting Jerry Lewis at the dentist; living next door to an actress on The Andy Griffith Show; meeting Richard Chamberlain at a neighbor's house; working for Jack Kirby as a teenager). Have you ever gotten starstruck?

First off, as a kid, I "met" (if you can call it that) Jerry Lewis for about twenty seconds at my pediatrician's office, not my dentist's. I was seven, he was pretty rude and as I think back on things, maybe that encounter was the reason that I was pretty shy around celebrities when I was young. And now that I think about the previous sentence, maybe it wasn't that I was shy around celebrities so much as that I was shy around strangers in general.

I remember — and this was after the Jerry encounter — my mother and I ran into Frances Bavier in a Newberry's five-and-dime shop. She was, of course, the lady who played Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and my mother said hello to her and told her we were next-door neighbors to her co-star on that series, Betty Lynn. Ms. Bavier couldn't have been nicer but for some reason, I was as afraid of her the way you'd be afraid of Godzilla. But then I was that way around strangers who weren't on TV, too.

Eventually, I outgrew most of that and I got over a big speed bump, vis-à-vis celebs the day I met Groucho Marx. At that age, he might have been the biggest star (to me, at least) I could have met then…and the fact that I didn't make a total and utter fool of myself gave me confidence in that area. As I mentioned in another piece on this blog, not long before Stan Laurel died, I turned down an opportunity to go to his apartment for a visit. What stopped me? A deep fear that I'd make a total and complete fool of myself…and be reminded of that every time I watched a Laurel & Hardy movie for the rest of my life.

"Show Biz Parties" — there has to be a better name for them than that — are pretty much like any parties. In the early seventies, my main lady friend was a physical education instructor and we went to a lot of parties involving her friends, mainly from the places she worked. As with any parties anywhere, it's a little awkward for me to be in someone else's home with many people I just plain don't know and with whom I may not share any common interests. A lot of those parties were indistinguishable from what you call a "Hollywood party" with, sometimes, one or both of these two exceptions…

One is that if you're around people who are on TV or famous at that level, you have to deal with the issue of recognition. A few years ago at a party, I fell into a conversation with a lady and it was a very pleasant, friendly, funny conversation. We hadn't been introduced and about ten minutes into the chat, I stopped and said, "Oh, I should introduce myself. My name is Mark Evanier and you are…?"

She said "Anita Gillette" and I was embarrassed because I knew that was. I'd seen her on the stage, thought she was wonderful and it somehow didn't occur to me that evening that the woman I was talking with — the one who looked and sounded exactly like Anita Gillette — was Anita Gillette. She was very sweet about the non-recognition but I still felt a bit ashamed of myself. That kind of thing never happened at the parties where my girl friend who taught Phys. Ed. was introducing me to other folks who taught Phys. Ed.

The other difference in parties full of folks "in the industry" (as some say) is what you asked about "networking." This is best explained by my umpteenth recycling of my one story about Betty White. It appears on this blog with only slightly less frequency than the story about Mel Tormé and the Christmas carolers and the notices of where Frank Ferrante is next appearing…

Some years ago, I was at a party full of Hollywood-type people and I was introduced to Betty White. Told that I was the producer of The Garfield Show, she instantly said to me, "Why haven't I been on The Garfield Show?" I smiled and said, "Because you're on everything else!" I don't think any TV actor at whatever age she was then has ever been in more demand than Betty White was at the time.

We wound up talking about other things and parting. Then a little later, she came up to me and said, "I hope you know I was only half-serious when I asked you, 'Why haven't I been on The Garfield Show.'" I said, "I assumed as much but just out of curiosity…what about the other half? You're on like twenty-seven TV shows these days. We pay scale to all our guest stars. If I did want to hire you, are you even available? And are you available for that money?"

She thought for a second and said, "No, I guess I'm not. The money wouldn't matter all that much but I just don't really have the time." Then she asked me, "Do you have any experience with feral cats?"

I told her about the small herd of them I feed in my backyard. She said, "Well, then maybe you're aware of this. Looking for food is hardwired into most feral cats. Their lives revolve around finding the next meal so even if you feed one and she stuffs herself, a minute later, she's thinking, 'Where is food? Where do I find food?' They can't help themselves. I'm afraid most actors are like that. Even when they have a job, they're thinking, 'Where is my next one?'"

"When we were doing The Golden Girls, there was a point where we were picked-up for two more seasons and I had all these other things I was doing. I was turning down offer after offer because I just didn't have the time open. And still, there were moments when a little voice in me was wondering, 'What are you going to do when this ends?' Actors…at times, we're all like feral cats!"

A party full of industry people can sometimes have that Feral Cat Factor. I'm especially conscious of it during those periods in my life when I have a position that someone who's not working might think can lead to them working. Not always…maybe not even most of the time…but sometimes, it can add an uncomfy subtext to the interactions. As I mentioned here recently, I leave parties when too many people have had too many cocktails. I've also left because of this.

Those two exceptions aside, "Show Biz Parties" — at least the ones I've been to — aren't much different from any parties someone in another line of work might attend. One of the first things I learned about the entertainment field is that there ain't nearly as much glamour on the inside as folks on the outside assume. Or if there is, it's at parties to which I am not invited.

Trump called yesterday's U.S. air strikes on Iran a "spectacular military success" — which, I suppose, it may have been on some level, I dunno. I do know that Trump calls every single thing he does a "spectacular success," even when it clearly isn't. I don't see this move being described as a "spectacular military success" by anyone important who has the option of not saying that.

There are many scary elements to this but perhaps the scariest is the possibility that it was not a move intended to solve the crisis in that region of the world but rather the crisis in Donald Trump's ego. I sure hope this article by Bill Curry isn't right. Here's a key excerpt…

Trump needs attention like Dracula needs blood, and the Israel-Iran war, in which the U.S. has now become an active participant, struck at the worst possible time in his feeding cycle. On Saturday, June 14, he'd just staged a disastrous military parade — presumably to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, but actually held in his own honor — at which there was no John Phillips Sousa, no red white and blue bunting and, worst of all, no adoring crowds. There were only camouflaged soldiers in a silent procession closer to the Stations of the Cross than a Fourth of July parade.

Meanwhile, millions of his severest critics were throwing a raucous bash in honor of our democracy. The "No Kings" rallies may have been the biggest protest ever held in America. A palpably joyous celebration, it was everything Trump dreamed his parade would be, and just like his parade, it was all about him, only not in a good way.

But read the whole article…or don't if the idea of this "leader" leading us into war scares the bejeesus out of you.

For those of you who are getting sick of hearing "For the Longest Time" performed by one or two people or four people, here's a whole group performing it. I think these folks are German. At least, the name of their group is Potsdamer Kneipenchor and that sure sounds German to me. Note that the lady in the Paul Lynde/Ann B. Davis position looks a little too happy to be doing this and also that one of the other ladies was apparently so embarrassed that she hid her face for the first half…

Back when I reviewed this year's Tony Awards (here), I praised the closing musical number sung by Cynthia Erivo and speculated that it was written by Alex Edelman, who was credited for Special Material in the final crawl.  Logical assumption…but wrong.  According to this article over on Playbill, "Tony-winning composers Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Marc Shaiman, and Scott Wittman quickly crafted that closing number (with the moral support of Alex Edelman, who supplied the jokes for the evening)."

Here's another look at that number with very clever lyrics written in a hurry. And no, she is not singing "For the Longest Time"…

Graeme Burk sent me this question and I don't think he's going to like my answer…

My Ask ME question! I was surprised to find you listed among the contributors in Maurice Horn's The World Encyclopedia of Comics, which was a much loved book when I was a kid (it seemed like every bookstore had a copy of it in the late '70s and early '80s, along with Crown's reprint books for Superman and Batman). I don't remember you contributing to it (Joe Brancatelli did most of the comic book related things). Do you remember what you contributed and what it was like working with Maurice Horn, the editor? I have tremendous sentimental regard for this book and would love to know more!

I don't remember much about what I contributed to it but all the listings I wrote were signed with my name or initials or something. I haven't opened my copy of it in a couple of decades. What I do recall is that my friend Joe Brancatelli had dumped upon him a long, long list of entries they needed him to write in a short, short amount of time for not-very-good money.  He then enlisted me to help out and do a dozen or so of them, maybe less. At first, I dealt with Joe, who was and still is smart, a very nice guy and someone committed to high standards of journalism. Then I dealt with Maurice.

I had nothing to do with the book beyond those few entries I wrote but when I received a copy, I found an awful lot of misinformation. I even found errors had been added to some of the listings I wrote.

Today, I could mount a slight (very slight) defense of the book. At the time, very little had been written about the history of comic books and it was in some ways, a starting point. Isn't there a saying that goes something like, "History has to be written wrong before it can be written right?" Something like that? Well, if there isn't, there should be.

A lot of erroneous "facts" came from folks who'd created the comic books and strips that were being chronicled. In one of the few "going to the source" interviews conducted for the book, Joe talked with Bob Kane and Bob claimed to have been born in 1929. This, of course, caused Joe to then ask, "So you were twelve when Batman was created?"

Kane insisted that date was right but Joe knew better so that was one untruth that didn't make it in the book. Others did though, some from bad sources like Bob, some from articles that were not as accurate as they might have been. Today, there's been a lot more comic book history excavated and peer-reviewed and there's more skepticism applied to what sometimes comes from inflated egos, diminished memories…or even publishers who for legal/business reasons don't want the history to be accurate.

I spoke to Joe before I wrote this blog post to jog my memory and he pointed out a foundational problem with the book. Mr. Horn and his closest associates were vastly more interested in comic strips (like in newspapers) than comic books and more interested in comics around the world, not so much the ones in this country. They kind of looked down on American comic books and didn't know a whole lot about them, which is why they needed contributors like Joe and me. If they'd interviewed Bob Kane, they would probably have printed that he was born in 1929.

Joe and I both disavowed the book. I think some of the other contributors did as well.  At one point, I wrote Mr. Horn and asked — politely, I thought — that my name be removed from any future editions or updates. I don't think I have his reply letter any longer but I recall that it didn't address my request. Instead, he said that I was fat and stupid…which I thought was kind of a reasonable response.

One of the last times I even thought about the book was in the late eighties when I wrote a special for NBC that, in a segment that never made it to air for reasons of length, mentioned a whole bunch of cartoon characters. NBC had a policy then that every script had to be submitted to a research firm — there were several in town and I assume there still are — that would do a light "fact check" on the contents.  If you made reference to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the report would say something like, "Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States."  Just in case you'd mentioned him without knowing that.

More importantly, if you named a character "Jeremiah Nostrilhair," they would report, "We can find no reference anywhere for a Jeremiah Nostrilhair so the name can be presumed fictitious." This allegedly gave the network some sort of legal protection if after the show aired, some person named Jeremiah Nostrilhair came forward and threatened to sue. It demonstrated that the network had done its due diligence and at least made an effort to make sure they were not thoughtlessly besmirching the good name of Nostrilhair. I guess.

So this script I wrote for NBC was submitted for "research" and back came a report identifying all the references I'd made to that whole bunch of cartoon characters and the "research" was full of mistakes. I don't know why but I felt the need to call the research company and tell them so. A semi-nice lady assured me that they were super-competent researchers and with the self-assuredness of anyone now working in the Trump Administration, she told me that they never, ever, How Dare You Suggest Otherwise? got anything wrong.

I asked for her source and she told me that they always on such matters consulted The World Encyclopedia of Comics from Chelsea House Publishers, "widely-accepted as the definitive authority on the subject." That was her description of it, not mine.  I told her it was not widely-accepted as that and when she argued that it was, I called her attention to my name listed as one of its contributors. Did you ever hear the blood drain out of someone's face over the phone?

Ms. Nostrilhair (or whatever her name was) replied in a mutter, "I'll look into it" and hung up. That might be the last time I thought about the book until I received Graeme Burk's e-mail the other day asking me about it. But I'm glad to set the record a bit straighter and it gave me an excuse to call my friend Joe and catch up with him.

Joe told me something else about the book that I don't think I knew before. On the spine on the dust jacket, the name of the book is of course printed in big letters and as you can see, they have a little drawing of Pogo Possum running to add a missing "C" to the world "encyclopedia." Here — take a look…

See it there? Joe says that was not someone's creative idea because they thought it would be cute or funny. According to him, the dust jackets for the book were printed and then someone noticed that the word "encyclopedia" was spelled wrong.  A letter "c" was missing.  This is not a good thing to do when you want people to put trust in the accuracy of your reference book.  The spine is the first thing they see when the book is on the shelf in some library.

They didn't want to throw them all out and redo them so they grabbed the Pogo drawing from I-don't-know-where, cloned a "c" from elsewhere in the name and ran the dust jackets through the press another time to add Pogo and the missing "c."

I wish I'd known that back when I was talking to the lady at the research company.  It would have been fun to point that out to her and she might even have called me fat and stupid…which I would have thought was kind of a reasonable response.

Unless I miss my guess, these three ladies are Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo and Jasmine Cephas Jones, and they played The Schuyler Sisters in the original cast of Hamilton on Broadway. You'll never guess what song they're singing here…