Monthly Archives: October 2009

We changed planes in Chicago and with limited time, I had the choice of eating or blogging. You lost out, folks. Sorry. I am now back home in my comfy computer chair in Los Angeles.

Great trip. Mid-Ohio-Con is one of the friendliest conventions I've attended the last few years…big enough that there's plenty to see and do, not so big that you feel overwhelmed by it. It reminds me in many ways of the early San Diego Cons. Those of you who lament the current size of Comic-Con International and wish it were as it used to be would do well to consider a trip next year to Mid-Ohio-Con. I liked the con. I liked the hotel. I liked the meals — B.D.'s Mongolian Barbecue and Five Guys, especially. I liked the side trip to Muncie while Carolyn and her friend Maggie Thompson plumbed the vaults of the comic collection at Ohio State University. I even liked my rental car with the Hertz NeverLost™ system.

There will be much catching-up in the days to come.

We're coming to you via the free wi-fi at the airport in Columbus, Ohio. Why? Because we have a half-hour and because we can. Mid-Ohio-Con was great…but then it always is, for reasons I'll try to articulate later. That ended Sunday and on Monday, my fellow convention guest Gregg Berger and I drove to Muncie, Indiana…the Garfield capitol of the world. For many years now, I've been writing and voice-directing Garfield cartoons and Gregg has been providing the voice of Odie, Squeak the Mouse and other bizarre denizens of the cat's world. I'd been to the offices before (many times) but it was the first time Odie Gregg had visited. Jim Davis is a gracious employer/host and we had a fine time, meeting and dining…and even hearing tales of Jim's old college buddy at Ball State University, David Letterman. A lot of folks think Jim made his fortune by creating the world's most successful newspaper strip but that was small change compared to what he's made blackmailing Dave.

Carolyn, Gregg and I are flying back to L.A. by way of Chicago. We change planes at Midway Airport and you'll hear from me then if (a) we have sufficient time betwixt flights and (b) they have free wi-fi and I can get it working.

An awful lot of people enjoyed meeting Stan and Hunter Freberg at the Comic-Con in San Diego last July…and why the heck shouldn't they? He's a legendary satirist, maker of hit comedy records and funny commercials and a great cartoon voice actor. She's his spouse/helpmate and an entertainer and broadcaster herself. We like these people a lot.

If you live in Southern California and yearn to be in the same room as a couple of Frebergs, you have two upcoming opportunities. One is this coming weekend when they'll be appearing at the Hollywood Collectors Show out in Burbank. There will be other celebs in attendance whose autograph you may wish to obtain — folks like Julie Newmar and Bill Mumy and Mickey Rooney and Shelley Berman and Debbie Reynolds and even Stan's longtime co-star, June Foray. But it would be worth the trip and admission price just to meet Stan and to also get a copy of June's autobiography.

You also have an even rarer chance to see Stan and Hunter perform. The world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood is hosting a series of cabaret events and the Funny Frebergs are doing two shows — one on November 16, one on November 17, both starting at 8 PM. If you're a member, you can order tix right now on the Castle website. There's also a way for non-members to get tickets but I don't know yet where to send you for those. Details will be posted once I do…but you might want to save one of those dates. I'm sure they'll put on a great show even though Stan will not be sawing Hunter in half. At least, I don't think he will.

I'm not really back yet from Travel Mode but I wanted to mention this. When I had my brief discussion here about Roman Polanski, a couple of the e-mails I received contained presumptions about "what all of Hollywood believes." Let me tell you about "what all of Hollywood believes." All of Hollywood believes it wants to make successful movies and TV shows, that it wants the folks who deserve honors to be honored for whatever it is they've done to deserve honors, and that there's no business like show business like no business I know.

But beyond generalities like that, Hollywood doesn't speak with a single voice. Heck, all the people who work on any one movie or TV show don't speak with a single voice. I had the same agent for 27 years and we didn't even speak with a single voice. The only people I ever met in this industry who ever spoke with a single voice were Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney.

Bill Lentz, a reader of this site, wrote to ask me what I think of a recent article about Terry Teachout on Hollywood's reaction to the Polanski arrest. I think Mr. Teachout is using that situation to unload some long-nursed grudges about the entertainment industry. For a better, more informed view, read what Patrick Goldstein and Josh Olson have to say in this article. Unlike Teachout, when they write about what people in Hollywood think, they actually know some.

For what it's worth, I received more argumentative e-mail for my position on Joe Besser than I did for my position on Roman Polanski. Roman may have committed an unspeakable sin but at least he didn't have the audacity to try and replace Curly.

I am still traveling and too preoccupied to post much…ergo, the picture of a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. This, for the benefit of those new to the party, is an ancient Internet tradition I've been attempting to start without a whole lot of success. The idea is that when your blog is going into sleep mode for a day or so — or whatever would be an unnatural amount of time for you to not post — you put up a picture of a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, just to alert all that you may not be around the 'net as often as they've come to expect. Almost no one does this…and one person who thought they were picking up on my idea was quite unclear on the concept. He posted a picture of a can of Campbell's Chicken and Stars Soup. That's just silly.

Normal nattering will resume shortly. If you're bored, I hear somewhere on the Internet, there's something else worth reading. You may, if you look hard, even be able to find naughty pictures.

An interview/profile of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. When his Bloom County newspaper strip first appeared, I remember feeling kinda guilty about enjoying it. It was a bit too crudely drawn and it was so obviously trying to confuse readers into thinking it was Doonesbury…and there were also the promotional interviews Breathed gave wherein he didn't show a lot of respect for his newly-selected craft. But the strip was kinda funny…

Just before I left the house on my trip, I received Volume 1 of the new Bloom County reprint series from IDW. It looks very good and I'm looking forward to actually reading it again and seeing if the strip is still kinda funny. Here's an Amazon link if you want to find out, too.

The In-n-Out Burger chain has outlets in California, Nevada, Arizona, parts of Utah and nowhere else. Folks from other states who visit one of those have been known to plan a visit to In-n-Out as a vital element of their vacations…and it's easy to understand. In-n-Out Burgers are pretty good.

They are not, however, my favorite fast food burgers anymore. Part of that is because every time I've eaten at In-n-Out the last couple years, I've enjoyed it a bit less than the time before. This may be that their product is sliding downhill…but since I haven't seen one other person anywhere say this, I'm inclined to think that ain't it. It also may be that I've had Bad Burger Luck lately. Any restaurant can occasionally serve you a meal that's not up to their standards. Maybe I've just gotten some of those. That could happen.

Another possibility is that I've changed. I gave up carbonated beverages in February of '06. In January of '08, I gave up sugar to the extent that one can give up sugar. I get it in small doses in some things I eat but I lost my sweet tooth and no longer have any interest in candy, ice cream, pastry, Krispy Kreme donuts, etc. My taste buds have changed and maybe that has something to do with the reason that In-n-Out no longer thrills me as it once did.

All these reasons are possible but I know one reason that In-n-Out is no longer my favorite cheap/fast place to get a burger. I've discovered Five Guys. I think Five Guys makes the best fast food burger in all the land.

I wish I didn't feel that way because there's no Five Guys convenient to where I live. There are plenty of In-n-Outs but the nearest Five Guys is twenty miles from me…in an area where I have no reason to ever venture. Fortunately, they have 'em all over Ohio and since I'm in Ohio, guess where I went for lunch today. What's more, I brought back burgers and fries for several friends at the con and even passed out fries to the attendees at one of my panels. Boy, their food is good. If they also served the Creamy Tomato Soup from Souplantation, I'd probably move to within walking distance of one and never eat anywhere else again.

I moan a lot here about airlines but I have to tell ya: The two flights we took to get here Friday ("here" being Columbus, Ohio) couldn't have gone much smoother. I still don't like the fight-for-your-seat policy at Southwest Airlines but the planes both took off on time, both landed early and both were staffed with pleasant, helpful folks. What's more, our luggage even showed up where and when it was supposed to show up. Can't do much better than that.

Carolyn and I flew in with our friends Gregg Berger, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman and today, we spent a fun day at Mid-Ohio-Con. I did three panels, signed a mess o' comics and answered a lot of questions, some of which weren't even about Jack Kirby. I'll write more of the con when I'm not about to go off to dinner but I did get to chat with Herb Trimpe, Joe Rubinstein, Dick Ayers, Joe Jusko, Billy Tucci, Thom Zahler, Tony Isabella, Bob Ingersoll, Gary Friedrich, Maggie Thompson, Brian Kane, Ron Frenz, Fred Hembeck and I know I'm forgetting a lot of names. I'll get them tomorrow. The Mongolian barbecue awaits!

In April of '08, many of you followed my exploits here as I attempted — without much success for a long time — to trap a pregnant feral cat that I've been feeding in my backyard. The first post on the subject was here and then I kept you and the world updated as I schemed and plotted to catch said pussycat and haul her off to a vet to be unpregnanted…and to make sure she stayed that way. If you read forward for a week or two, you'll see how I finally (finally!) succeeded.

Every now and then, someone writes to ask of Lydia and to see if she still comes 'round every night to be fed here. Yes, she does. The above photo was taken not two hours ago. Lydia is one of four strays (plus occasional guest stars) who dine nightly on my back step and occasionally turn up during the day. She's very nervous…as I guess I'd be if someone had done to me what I did to her. But she seems very happy and if you don't make any sudden moves, quite affectionate.

That's about all I have to report…but since folks ask, I thought I'd report what I had to report.