PREVIOUS NEWS • NEXT NEWS

July 12, 2002 · 6:30 PM PDT · link

NBC IS PLANNING on rerunning Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol later this year.  We think this may be a good idea.  It's certainly a good show, as we explain over in NOTES from me.

STEPHEN SONDHEIM will be the topic this Sunday morning (7/14) on a show called CBS News Sunday Morning.  I have no idea how much of the 90-minute show is devoted to Mr. Sondheim but you might want to set the TiVo.  The show starts at 9 AM in New York and 7 AM in Los Angeles.  Consult, as they say, your local listings.

July 12, 2002 · 3:30 AM PDT · link

THOUGHTS JUST BEFORE BEDTIME: Several folks wrote to tell me that the "funds transfer" scam I described 24.5 hours ago is sometimes called "The Nigerian Scam."  It's discussed over on the Snopes website that debunks rumors, myths, etc.  Here's a link to the page about this one.

And, speaking of money-transferring scams, you can now advance order my book, Comic Books and Other Necessities of Life, over at the TwoMorrows website.  Here's the link for that.

BETWEEN Mike Ovitz and Michael Jackson, we're certainly being asked to summon up outrage at discrimination against some pretty rich people.  I used to have a friend who said, "Never feel sorry for anyone with more than ten million dollars in the bank."

Mr. Jackson is upset because he believes that black artists are treated poorly by major recording companies.  I don't know that that's so but if it is, it seems to me that he has the power to change it.  All he has to do is take his business to a black-owned record company...which, with him there, would quickly become a major.  He could even set up his own label and treat artists better.

Mr. Ovitz is upset because a supposed "Gay Mafia" is sabotaging his career.  I have nothing to say about this except that I love the whole concept of a Gay Mafia.  I suppose when they give you the Kiss of Death, it includes dinner and dancing.

Incidentally, I've had occasional dealings with both Michaels.  I feel they could both profit from occasionally associating with someone who didn't tell them everything they wanted to hear.  Good night.

July 11, 2002 · 3:00 AM PDT · link

THOUGHTS JUST BEFORE BEDTIME: I didn't copy down the words but it seemed to me that Leno and Letterman duplicated at least two jokes tonight in their monologues...one about how, when they ran out of players at the All-Star Game, someone should have thawed out Ted Williams.  I forget the other.  Monday night, they both had a joke about how, when doctors performed that colonoscopy on Bush, you know that they found?  More ballots for Al Gore!

ARE YOU ALL getting these spam e-mails from some guy who has millions of dollars which he's trying to get out of some oppressed country?  The precise country varies from e-mail to e-mail but, in each, the premise is that I have somehow been selected to aid them and I will receive a tidy percentage of the fortune if only I will allow them to transfer it into my bank account here as a means of conveyance.  Yeah, sure, of course.  Does anyone ever fall for these things?  I mean, I assume they send out a million of these messages and would be very happy to get a positive response from a tenth of one percent...but do they even get that?  (In some, I am asked to call an overseas phone number which, if I understand the scam correctly, is the equivalent of a "976" phone line where you're charged by the minute, only this one charges hundreds of dollars per minute.)  I'm just wondering if there's any rate of success at all for these things...

By the way: POVonline will never ask you for your password or other user information.

COMIC HISTORIAN extraordinaire Bob Harvey has all sorts of great articles and commentaries over on his website, which is at www.rcharvey.com.  But we call your attention to this one that he's just posted...a nice history of Mr. Al Capp.  If it weren't past my bedtime, I'd tell the story of the one time I met the creator of Li'l Abner.

But it is...so good night.

July 10, 2002 · 7:00 PM PDT · link

WATCHING CROSSFIRE and some other "argument" shows this afternoon — you know, the kind of programming that didn't exist before Phil Donahue — I was struck by this thought: Is anybody buying this?

I mean this kind of sudden role-reversal...Democrats talking like Republicans did just a few years ago and vice-versa.  Not so long ago, every time some investigation failed to indict Bill or Hillary, the G.O.P. response was (a) the investigation was incomplete, (b) the investigation was a whitewash and/or (c) just because the inquisitors couldn't find a prosecutable violation of law, it absolutely did not mean that no crime had been committed.  Did you ever hear one Clinton foe ever say, "Well, I guess this charge was unfounded"?  Me, neither...and, of course, Democrats said what you'd expect them to say — usually, some kind of mealy-mouthed, keep-your-distance defense.

Now, the exact same Repubs who insisted that Whitewater, Vince Foster and other "scandals" be investigated over and over are insisting that Bush's stock dealings are "old news," that it's all been fully-investigated and that he's been exonerated.  And Democrats are arguing (a), (b) and/or (c).

We all understand about "spin" and about trying to sell your interpretation of a given event.  That doesn't even bother me anymore.  But now we're down to "spin" as a means of denial.  Every single politician and pundit saying "Bush was cleared" knows full well it was a thin inquiry performed largely by folks whose careers depended on his family.  They also know there will be more of these supposed scandals coming as Democrats and reporters delve into other Bush business practices, to say nothing of Mr. Cheney and other cabinet officials.  They're saying "It's old news" because they don't like the new news and are afraid of it.

I don't know if Bush and his gang did break any laws.  It would not surprise me if the laws of the land have been skewed to be so pro-business that the C.E.O. of a failing company could cook the books and reap millions without breaking any statutes — an outrage for which I would blame both Democrats and Republicans.  But I do know that everyone's saying, not what they believe but what they hope will work to their political advantage.  And I also know that no one's buying it.  No one.

July 10, 2002 · 4:00 PM PDT · link

WORD ON THE STREET is that one of my favorite shows, Dennis Miller Live, has been cancelled by HBO.  Further gossip suggests that while it will be announced as Miller's choice, it is anything but.  And while I haven't heard anything about this yet, you have to wonder if this has anything to do with rumors about Bill Maher dickering for a new home on some cable channel.

Speaking of talk: MSNBC keeps sending me e-mails promoting the new Phil Donahue show (starts Monday) and describing him as "The man who invented TV talk."  Does anyone really think that "TV talk" by any definition started in 1967?

IN AN EFFORT to speed loading time of this page as it fills with goodies, I am now doing the longer pieces with graphics on separate pages called "Notes From me."  Instead of the material appearing on this page, you'll have to click on the link as per the posting below.  Give it two weeks and then let me know if it isn't an improvement.

July 10, 2002 · 12:30 AM PDT · link

SOME THOUGHTS on the movie, The Front Page, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. (You know...the version nobody liked except me.)  Hurry over to the NOTES from me section to read why I don't think it was bad a film as everyone — including one of its stars — thought.

THE GRAND GURU of Marvel, Stan Lee, cancelled out on a scheduled appearance at a comic convention over the July 4th weekend due to illness.  This has apparently prompted some Internet rumors that he's at death's door.  He is not. I ran into him this afternoon and he seems to be completely recovered and in perfect health.  Matter of fact, I'm convinced he got one of those Captain America injections and will outlive us all.

July 8, 2002 · 10:30 PM PDT · link

WARD KIMBALL was that rarest of animals...an animator who was as colorful and interesting as anything he drew.  He was also a writer and director of live-action films, a musician and the proprietor and engineer of his own small-scale railroad.  He was also, from all accounts, a genuine eccentric...and that was always said in the nicest, most admiring sense.  Last December, he and two other of Disney's legendary "nine old men" attended an event at the Motion Picture Academy where their work was screened and applauded.  The scene chosen to represent Kimball's animation was the title song from The Three Caballeros, which is widely hailed as one of the finest pieces of frantic and funny cartooning ever achieved.

I got to meet him briefly that evening and for that, I am grateful.  But I'm even more grateful that he was there so he could hear several generations of animation buffs and creators stand and applaud his career.

He passed away in peace this morning...with full knowledge, I suspect, of how his work will be viewed and appreciated forever.

THE CURRENT ISSUE of Washington Monthly has a killer of an article on President Bush's messy business dealings and, in particular, about how his administration has pretty much ignored the kind of ethical lapses that led to resignations in previous regimes.  Here's the link to the piece.  The thing that leads me to believe this matter is not going away is that the Republican response, so far, seems to be to change the subject or to say, "This is just Democratic desperation."  No one outside of Bush's immediate aides is out there making much of a case for innocence.

KEEPING IN MIND that there could still be changes, it's time to unveil the list of panels and events I'll be moderating at the forthcoming Comic-Con International in San Diego.  These are always terrific, not because of me but because I get to host the best events.  I'll be posting updates and amendments here as we get closer to the festivities...

LAST NIGHT, I posted a new page in the My Backyard section, showing a photo I took of a mother raccoon and one of her babies.  Well, it turns out I posted prematurely.  Later that evening, I got some shots of the raccoon with not one, not two, not even three but four offspring!  So I've revised that new page with a couple of the later photos and you can see it by clicking here.

July 8, 2002 · 1:30 AM PDT · link

TOMORROW NIGHT (actually, Tuesday morning), ABC debuts Up Close, the placeholder interview show that's taking the place of Politically Incorrect.  Ted Koppel will be spending a half-hour chatting with David Letterman on the first installment.  For an interesting and probably accurate take on the situation, check out Adam Buckman's column in the New York Post.

JUST ADDED a fifth page to the My Backyard section, mostly to show off an amazing photo I took this evening.  Here's the shortcut to the new page.

July 7, 2002 · 2:30 PM PDT · link

EVERY SO OFTEN on this site, I post stories about toys I once owned which now go for serious bucks on eBay.  I've written a piece about the Mattel Shootin' Shell Derringer Belt...a favored childhood plaything for about 72 hours and it can be found and read over in NOTES from me.

July 7, 2002 · 1:00 AM PDT · link

I'VE BEEN WATCHING reruns from the first few seasons of Saturday Night Live and you know what?  They're better than I remember.  To read why, go over to the NEWS from me section.

ABOUT A DOZEN of my old POV columns have been removed from this site.  Some were taken away because I decided I didn't like them.  Others were the opposite: I liked them enough to include them in my forthcoming paperback collection, Comic Books and Other Necessities of Life (see below).  Most of these have had little improvements added so I wanted to retire the old versions.  A few more columns, new to this website, will be posted in the coming weeks, starting with this two-part series on comic book lettering.

Click here to read the previous NEWS FROM ME