Work to do, work to do. I won't be paying much attention to this blog and even less to primaries and caucuses. I'm especially not going to read political articles online.
One arguably-nice thing about the Internet is that on it, you can almost always find an authoritative-sounding article to confirm that which you wish to believe. So if you want to believe that there's no way on Earth that Bernie Sanders can get the Democratic nomination, let alone win the White House, there are pundits who will tell you that's so. And if you want to believe he not only can but definitely will, it won't take much Googling to have someone tell you that's so. Same with any other candidate.
I sometimes think I know where all this is headed but then I remind myself that there's no way I would have expected some of them — Sanders and Trump in particular — to be where they are today…and there's a long way to November with plenty of twists 'n' turns ahead. If Marco Rubio could do as much damage to his political future with one poor debate performance as he did, who's to say tomorrow Bernie or Donald (or Hillary or Ted or any of 'em) won't suddenly self-destruct — or have someone help them do that? One wrong tweet sent public instead of private can do a lot of damage…or maybe not. A lot of things Trump had said to cheering crowds are things which not so long ago would have torpedoed a campaign.
I do think some folks have tremendous advantages and others never had a chance. Still, it wouldn't amaze me that much if come Inauguration Day, we see the new President of the United States, Lena Dunham, being sworn in by Chief Justice Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
In other news: Membership badges for Comic-Con International 2016 sold out in a little under an hour, I'm told. There's usually another brief on-sale period later on as they offer badges that were for one reason or another returned for refunds. If you wanna go and can't get one that way, your best bet is probably an exhibitor. Those who rent booths in the hall get a supply of badges and don't always need them all. Whatever you do though, don't write me. I can do nothing to help you.
Haven't watched Craig Ferguson's new show yet but the first two episodes are among the thirty-or-so hours of unviewed programming on my TiVo. I liked Stephen Colbert a lot this past week and caught some of Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, which was broadcasting from out here — from the studio on the Universal lot which was made over for Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show.
Wednesday night, they did a bit they did once before in New York. Fallon started the monologue, then feigned an injury and had to ask someone to "tag in" for him and finish it — and Jay Leno walked in and took over. The audience loved it and it reminded me how I always thought Leno was the best monologist in late night…not coincidentally because he's one of the few who ever did stand-up outside a talk show situation.
Jay did the balance of the monologue, then left to go home. Later in the episode, a scheduled guest (Snoop Dogg) didn't show so Jay was hustled back out to be the guest for one segment. He said the producer caught him at the gate and got him to return. It seemed genuinely spontaneous because Fallon had no questions for him. Jay just came out, sat down and began telling stories, filling the time quite nicely with Fallon barely participating. But then Fallon rarely has much to do in his interviews even when he's sitting there with pre-written questions on a card in front of him.
If you want to watch the monologue segment, it's here. And part of Leno's sitdown with Fallon is here. Notice that Jay doesn't wait for Jimmy to ask him something that might lead to a funny anecdote. He plays it safe and just starts telling one and manages to tie it in with something that went before. You too can host The Tonight Show if your guests can all do that.